Overcome by grief after being told their mother died from COVID-19 and other complications at a hospital one week ago, a family from east Trinidad (who did not want to be named) is now hoping that medical authorities can answer their questions and bring a sense of closure to them.
The last time the children saw their mother was around 11 pm on September 13 when she was warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, after complaining of being unable to breathe properly.
That was the only discomfort the bed-ridden cancer patient was experiencing at the time, they said.
One week later, she passed away at the Couva Hospital. The official cause of death listed on the certificate read cardiac arrest; COVID-19 positive; hypertension; congested cardiac failure; and multiple myeloma.
Family members are now being shunned by the public, compounding the already distressing situation.
“This thing is taking a toll on us and people are now discriminating against us. People are saying they do not want to come to our home and it is so bad that when I am waiting on a taxi, no one wants to pick me up. They keep passing straight…just looking at me. Every time someone sees us, they grabbing their mask, it is not a nice feeling,” one of the woman's daughters said.
The woman said the 74-year-old mother of ten, who was hypertensive, was diagnosed with bone cancer in January.
One of her other daughters said, “When we found out she was sick, she was at home. We never went anywhere except for her to see a private doctor and sometimes to the hospital.”
On the morning of September 14, the family was contacted to provide their mother’s medical history. Following complete silence from the hospital on September 15, the family asked a friend at the hospital to check on her.
The family became alarmed when she could not be found on the ward. The daughter said, “We were later told she had been transferred to the Arima Hospital and they wanted us to bring her medications so my sister did take it. But they told us we could not see her because they were doing a COVID-19 test.”
It was four days later–on September 19–when they heard from hospital authorities who wanted to discharge their mother from the hospital. The children, however, indicated the personal accommodations at home would not allow for isolation and the type of special care their mother required.
The family was then told that their mother would be transferred to the Couva Hospital after she tested positive for COVID-19.
“On September 20 around 2 am the doctor called my sister and said our mother was at the Couva Hospital. My sister begged to talk to her and she was asking for water, my sister spoke to her and tried to comfort her. Then about 10.30 am on September 20, they called us again and said she had passed away and was positive with COVID-19.”
Revealing that her five brothers were barred from seeing their mother’s body as it had already been sealed at the Couva Hospital, the grieving woman said the family turned to attorney Gerald Ramdeen for help.
Unable to simply accept her sudden passing and wanting answers, the upset daughter said, “We were told to go to a funeral home in San Juan and we would be able to see the body there but all we got was a run-around. They kept us there for more than one hour and eventually we were told that there were no safety measures in place for anyone to see the body so we left.
“The next day we were told that the body had been sent back to Mt Hope and then we were told to go to another funeral home in St Joseph where we were able to see it on Thursday.”
Questioning how and why her mother’s body had been transferred multiple times if she had, in fact, died as a result of the COVID-19 virus, the woman said, “At the funeral home, they asked us if we wanted to wear the Personal Protective Equipment so we said yes because the hospital said she had the virus.”
Insisting no one else in the home has been diagnosed with the virus and that no health officials had visited the residence to sanitise the surroundings, the woman said the family is now questioning where their mother would have contracted the virus.
“She did not have that virus at home and really and truly, we do not believe that is what she died from.”
Questioning why it had taken the authorities more than one week to dispose of her mother’s body, given the highly contagious nature of the virus, the woman is pleading for closure.
BOX:
NCRHA extends condolences
Extending condolences to the grieving family, a senior official at the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) said they would have recognised the mother's distress early into her admission and acted swiftly to assist her.
Acknowledging the family's pain and questions as to where and how the deceased might have contracted the virus, the official explained that although no one else in the home had tested positive for the virus, this did not mean that they might not have come into contact with someone who had it.
The official said, "We understand how these questions could arise, but to have moved her to the Arima Hospital meant our medical personnel suspected very early that she could have had the virus, and then her transfer to Couva meant she required specialised medical care which we would have provided."
'Govt should put something in place for family to say a proper goodbye'
Following their mother’s funeral service on Friday, the upset and grieving daughter penned her thoughts:
“I am the type who believes in fighting for the right and the truth even if it means I have to fight alone. The hurt my family and I are feeling I will never wish anyone to experience it. I believe if someone died from COVID it's a worldwide virus so the Government of Trinidad & Tobago should put something in place in a funeral home where it is safe and secure for a family to say a proper goodbye and get some closure.
"They can put some glass away where it's safe enough for viewing of the body and, yes, we understand we don't need one million people to attend but at least the family can have some form of closure. It's not about just my mother but everyone who experienced the loss of a loved one and for families who are yet to experience it.
"We know it won't stop with my mom but her story hopefully will make a difference and something can be put in place, because right now it's not a nice feeling sitting in my sister’s living room to attend my mother funeral, it’s just not right.”
