Farmer dies from snake bite in Region 9

…rushed to 2 medical centres, but no help

A South Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) woman is now dead after she was rushed to two health centres on Thursday but both were closed. The woman was bitten by a snake on her farm.
Dead is Mathilda Ignacio, a farmer of the South Rupununi village of Achiwib Region Nine.
According to reports, the woman was on her farm with her children when she was bitten by a snake. After realising the severity, her children rushed her to the village for medical attention.
Upon arriving at the first health centre, the family found the gates were closed, and decided to take Ignacio to the second health centre which is located several hours away from her village. Sadly, when they arrived there, that medical facility was closed too.
According to the woman’s relatives, the gates to the facilities, including one at the village of Karaudanarau, were locked, which caused the woman to succumb to her injuries on Friday morning.
In an interview with Guyana Times on Saturday, Regional Chairman Bryan Allicock said the regional health authorities received reports on this issue and are presently investigating.
“The gates have to be closed in the nights because it is crew time and these villages are on lockdown. There are two or three persons who have keys for the gates and because they didn’t get contact with them, I guess that is what caused the delay,” he said.
Allicock said that it was alleged by the persons who had access to the keys of the gates of the health centres, that in the long efforts to locate the keys, the family left.
“Because of that delay that is why the lady passed away,” he told this newspaper.
Meanwhile, last Wednesday a patient died after being rushed to the Lenora Cottage Hospital in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), in an emergency state, and was turned away.
According to the family in a Facebook post, when they arrived at the hospital, they were told by the nurses that the doctors were not working that day. They were further instructed to take the patient to the West Demerara Regional Hospital located at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara (WBD), for medical treatment. However, the patient died before reaching that medical facility.