“I wanted to help my son, but I couldn’t” – father of dead driver

By LaWanda McAllister

Thirty-eight-year-old Ravindra Arjune, a father of two of Lot 384 Section D, Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara (ECD), who was injured during a multiple-vehicle crash-up on the Trafalgar Public Road, West Coast Berbice (WCB), has succumbed to his injuries almost one week after the accident.
Police reports reveal that Arjune died at the Georgetown Public Hospital at around 07:00h on Friday.

Reports are that on September 25, a Banks DIH truck that was driven by a 32-year-old male was proceeding east along the road at a fast rate of speed, while a car was proceeding in the opposite direction in front of a Bakewell truck. According to the driver of the Banks DIH truck, a truck suddenly stopped in front of him, and so he applied brakes and pulled to the left, and then to the right, when he collided with the rear of the car.
This caused the truck to spin and crash into the right-side front of the Bakewell truck. As a result, the driver of the Bakewell truck was pinned inside the vehicle. He was later extricated and taken to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital, before being later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was admitted as a patient.

When this publication contacted the family of the now dead man, his father Vishnu Arjune claimed the hospital is responsible for his son’s death. According to Vishnu, after his son was transferred to GPHC, they were told that he had to undergo immediate surgery.
He said he was told by doctors that his son had suffered a broken leg and a punctured bladder.
“They did two surgeries, one for his foot and one for his belly. When they told me that, I leave and I go back to Berbice. When I went back the next day, they told me that the surgery was successful, and they had to do a COVID test on him, and they would have to wait on the results before they can treat him or assist him,” he said.
The senior Arjune said his family was also told that they could not see his son until the COVID-19 results have been returned. He said that they were told by doctors that the results would be returned in 72 hours.
Vishnu said his son kept begging him to transfer him to another hospital, because he was displeased about the way he was being cared for at the medical institution. He said after Tuesday he was unable to reach his son, because someone in the hospital had stolen his phone.
The senior Vishnu has said he purchased a new phone, and asked a nurse to take it to his son, since he was not allowed to see him. He explained that he kept asking for the COVID test results for over a week, but his requests were in vain.
“My son dead now. If I had the test, I could have carried him to another hospital… Now he dead, I ask to see him, they said I can’t see him because they still don’t have the test.”
Vishnu has said what is painful is that even though they were waiting on the results for his son, he believes they should have at least treated him.
“He couldn’t eat or drink, they asked me to buy medication; they told me to buy 14 boxes of injection and six boxes. When he died, they give me back them same 14 boxes, and six boxes…
“Nobody couldn’t help him. I get so much, I wanted to helped my son, but I couldn’t,” the tearful father said.
The family is now calling on officials at the Health Ministry to investigate the death. He contends that while they cannot get back the younger Arjune, such a probe would help another family from losing a loved one under similar circumstances.