WDRH launches internal probe into death of 16-year-old

An investigation into the mysterious death of 16-year-old Glenston Drake at the West Demerara Regional Hospital on Monday has been launched. This is according to the Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital, Judy Hung.
Hung told Guyana Times on Friday that while she is aware of the allegations being made against the hospital by the relatives of the dead teen, she had not received an official report from anyone at the hospital or from the teen’s family.
However, she assured that a thorough investigation into the issue will be conducted.
“I am very sad to hear this complaint, especially coming from a third party because I haven’t gotten any form of complaint from the patient’s relatives… I did ask for a full report from the doctors or the specialists that were taking care of this young man. So, I am awaiting this report and we will liaise with the Ministry of Health.”
“I am hoping we can meet with the relatives, and they can come and give their formal complaints. They can identify the nurses and doctors that worked on this case. At this point, I don’t know about the individual treatment of this case,” she said.
However, the teen’s mother, Charmain Duncan, on Friday explained that on Saturday afternoon, her son was taken to the medical facility after complaining of having abdominal pains. She said after visiting the hospital, her son was admitted as a patient after the doctor allegedly told her that her son’s white blood cells were overpowering his red blood cells.
“He was there on Saturday, and on Sunday, I went to the hospital to take food for my son, and I was treated rudely by a nurse. My son was very down with pain… she asked me to go and come back during visiting hours… when I came back, I saw my son rolling from the ground to the bed. I went to them and asked the nurse to please get a doctor for me or give me a referral to take my son to Georgetown Public Hospital?”
The woman said after she could no longer bear to see her son experience such excruciating pain, she revisited the nurses’ station to ask for pain medication for the teen.
“When I asked, they told me that no doctor was available and they cannot do anything with the referral. But they didn’t tell me the medication that he had to get; they didn’t have the medication. When I found out, I said, How God, since Saturday this boy got admitted, why didn’t you tell me you didn’t have this medication…”.
“That is when they told me that they had a prescription to give me… I bought the medication for $4500… they just treated him with saline all the time… they didn’t explain anything to me… when my daughter brought back the medication, we went to the counter. One nurse was on duty. I was tapping and calling for the nurse, and she did not respond, she was on her phone looking at TikTok videos.”
The woman claimed that after some time, the nurse allegedly took the medication and did not administer it to her son. Duncan said at about 1:36h on Monday morning, she received a call from her son telling her that he was not being treated and the pain was too unbearable for him.
She said she spoke with her son for about an hour, and in the middle of the conversation, the phone went dead.
“I thought he fell asleep, so I didn’t call back the phone. At 4:57 am, the nurse called me and asked if I had a 16-year-old child in the hospital, so I said yes, and she said the child passed. We left and went to the hospital, and when we arrived, he was dead on the bed”, she explained.
The woman further related that while at the hospital, she was told by patients in the ward that her son had died while he was in the bathroom area. She said it was only after a patient realised that he had been in the bathroom for hours that they went to check on him and found him motionless.
“I have proof that no nurse attended to my son while he died in the washroom. A patient had to go and alert the nurse, and then the nurse went to check on my son in the bathroom. After they realised that he had passed away, they picked him up and put him on the bed. When I arrived, they didn’t tell me that my son had died in the bathroom… When my daughter picked up his phone, it was full of water.”
“My son was in there for hours…I believe my son had already passed away when the phone went blank while he was talking to me, and it was hours after they found him,” she said.
Duncan said after her son’s death, she was unaware of how the system worked, so she allegedly inquired about how she could make a report on the issue. She said she was referred to the matron of the hospital, who listened to her report and informed her that the hospital would reach out to her soon. She claimed that it has been almost a week, and she has not heard from the hospital since.
“I feel hurt about this situation because, from my point of view, that was negligence from the doctors and the nurses that led to my son’s death. They are paid to take care of patients in hospitals and they need to do their jobs. Imagine, they can’t even give me a time that my child died.”
“Now what is even more confusing is that the autopsy is saying they couldn’t find anything that happened to my son”, the woman said.
The family of the deceased is calling for a thorough investigation into the matter, and they are also seeking justice for their son’s untimely passing. (G-9)