Relatives of Jayden Brown who were seeking assistance to send him overseas for medical treatment, were plunged into sorrow on Friday morning.
One day after speaking with the Jamaica Observer to seek funding to finance his transportation overseas, the seven-year-old died due to what the family describes as negligence on the part of the hospital.
Brown was admitted to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in February and was diagnosed with Hirschsprung disease – an illness which causes severe constipation or intestinal obstruction. Often diagnosed in children, the disease can result in the complete blockage of the intestines.
Since February 16, he did seven surgeries and was referred to travel overseas for treatment.
“He has Hirschsprung disease and it’s complicated by leakage and now he has pneumonia which caused his lungs to stop working and he is on life support,” his aunt Tiffany Brown told the Sunday Observer last Thursday.
She said he was placed on the life support machine after his lungs stopped working last week. The relatives are now questioning the circumstances that led to his death in light of the fact that he was on the machine.
“The doctor said the life support machine was somehow pulled off [and] they are not sure how but the nurses were not aware,” his aunt told the Sunday Observer Friday evening.
“When they found him he was already blue, he died from a lack of oxygen. He was in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) so it’s negligence why he died,” she continued.
Officials of the hospital were unavailable for comment when the Sunday Observer sought a comment yesterday.
Jayden was to have been transported to the United States to receive treatment after doctors at the hospital told the family that they were unable to do anything else for him.
“The doctors in Jamaica they say they have done their best and right now he has leakage in his stomach. He has something called enterocolitis and it’s affecting his organs,” the aunt stated the day before he died.
“So they gave the family a letter for him to travel overseas and I got him accepted to one of the hospitals in Florida but he needed to travel by air ambulance and it cost US$14,000 [J$1,703660],” she said.
Enterocolitis is an inflammation of the digestive tract involving the small intestines and is often manifested as diarrheal defecations, with or without nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, chills, and alteration of general condition.
In an attempt to raise the funds, Tiffany said she started a gofundme account for Jayden but only raised US$1,800 – $12,200 short of the target.
“For him to get air transportation you have to pay that up front and we really couldn’t afford that. I am trying my hardest, I have set up a gofundme account for him and the money is not coming in to help to pay for it so he could get here as soon as possible,” she said before the youngster’s death..
Jayden was to be transported to the St Mary’s Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He died just eight days after his seventh birthday, which he celebrated at the Cornwall Regional Hospital.
This is very sad indeed. Sleep my Darling. You are now in God’s care.
RIP little man, you arw in the care of Almighty God now.
Oh gosh
S.I.P lil man
Sad and disgraceful that he died through negligence. I hope his family sues the hospital and those responsible are sacked! How can medical professionals be so careless? Doesn’t something like a life-support machine comes with an alarm or warning system to signal when something isn’t right?
Smh it’s sad to know that this story is only been told we reached put to so many ppl R.I.P Jayden you fought a good fight…
Smh it’s sad to know that this story is only been told we reached put to so many ppl R.I.P Jayden you fought a good fight…
If you are on life support wouldn’t you be on an acute care ward where you have to get check up on every 20-30 mins? Unless the machine malfunction on its own. I would also think only registered nurses with good experience would work with these cases. Caan believe regional have so much controversy deze days, one time only the best of the best could work there, when you saw a specialist there you knew you got the best care in the Caribbean. Why always sending hard cases to the US? Cuba and Panama have excellent healthcare that is not expensive. Why are we not looking at viable options close to us that are available to those with a limited budget? Many of the doctors speak English too, and MRIs and CT scan are universal regardless of the language. I implore the MOH to look at an agreement with Cuba to transfer patients who can’t be cared for in Jamaica, especially those who have little money.
This is truly sad and I suspect it could have been prevented. I suffered from IBS (intestinal blockage) and didn’t know I had it. I took all kind of laxitives to help but no relief. In fact it made it worse. For two weeks I suffered (I could move and, could barely crawl) until I went to the emergency at a local hospital. Once they established this was the issue and that with out relief I could die. The on-call emergency doctor (Dr. Foote) literally inserted one finger every few minutes and removed fecal matter until he could insert an enema. This continued for at least 1 hr and change as the 2 hr mark would have required surgery. The pain even on morphine/antibiotics was the hottest pain I have ever felt and keep in mind I am a mother. Eventually, a little stool/no blood passed with out the assistance of (big finger) Dr. Foote. Then the all came out – the entire chimmey was full (probably 5lbs if not more). I can tell you without a loving and hands on doctor (no pun intended) with the grace of my Father saved my life. As he explained to me surgery is always the last option because of not only do you lose part of your otherwise healthy intestine. Complications from infections could lead to death. I hope they did not neglect this child due to lack of knowledge or fear of shit and therefore leading to his early death. Rest in Peace Sweet one. My deepest condolences to the parents and may you comforted in your time of grief.
p.s. as anon 8:27 said, why couldn’t they send him to Cuba or Panama which is less expensive and close by. the doctors over these countries are just as good if not better.
Glad to know it worked out for you. I always some doctors are just doctors and some are healers. Luckily you were placed in the care of a healer and are here today to share your story.