Some five weeks after the deaths of two siblings, who died a day apart from each other, a Berbice family has staged a protest outside of the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, calling on authorities to provide answers regarding the children’s untimely demise.
Aryanna Mohabir, 9, and her brother 11-year-old Ricardo died last month.
The boy was pronounced dead upon arrival at the New Amsterdam Hospital on April 14 while his sister died in the Intensive Care Unit of the same facility on the following day.
To date, family members say they have not received any proper information from authorities regarding the cause of death of both children.
As such, on Wednesday, they decided to stage a protest outside of the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.
During the activity, the children’s mother contended that it was negligence which led to her daughter’s demise.
Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony had initially told reporters that investigations revealed that the children died from dengue-complications.
But he later explained to this publication that further testing was required and that samples were taken from both children’s bodies and were sent to the lab.
To date, the results of those tests were not made public. And according to family members, they too are being kept in the dark.
The mother, Rihanna Persaud said she was unable to make contact with hospital officials for some time, but on Tuesday, they contacted her. This, she added, was because they heard of the planned protest.
Arianna Mahabir who was admitted as a patient at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital on April 15 in critical condition. While preparations were being made to transfer her to the Georgetown Public Hospital, the child suffered a cardiac arrest and died in the Intensive Care Unit.
Prior to her admission, her brother, Ricardo, was brought into the hospital on April 14. He was pronounced dead on arrival.
The son had a fever and was being treated at home, however, he became unresponsive, causing the family to to rush him to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
The mother had previously stated that she had been taking her son to the said medical institution and several tests were conducted, including x-rays and an ultrasound, but medical personnel were unable to come up with a diagnosis.
She said that on many occasions, her son would cry out for pain in his tummy.
