By: Shemar Alleyne
Franklin Greaves is demanding answers into how his wife, Donna Greaves contracted COVID-19 and died whilst receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Donna Greaves, 25, was a mother of a one and a teacher of the Arapaima Nursery School in Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).
For the past month, the woman had been experiencing severe back pains, among others, which is attributed to pains from the anesthesia that she had to her spine after a c-section operation during birth.
She was initially taken to the Lethem Regional Hospital where it was revealed that she is suffering from high blood pressure. She was treated and sent home.
One June 25, her health begun to deteriorate and she was rushed back to the hospital.
There, she was informed that her blood pressure was high which was also compounded with a low blood count. A COVID-19 test was conducted. In the meantime, she was treated for the high blood pressure but doctors at the institution could not get the blood count under control.
After spending two days at the Regional Hospital, she was air-dashed to the city for further medical care.
“My wife and a regular maternity case that had complications, so the two of them flew out together, and they had some technical difficulties in the air. She was on oxygen and flew her out consciously, and while in the air, they ran out of oxygen, and they had to do some an emergency landing in Timehri, and she was transported to the public hospital by an ambulance on oxygen,” the woman’s husband explained during an interview with this publication.
The grieving husband explained that after six hours, doctors managed to stabilise her.
Doctors told relatives that she was suffering from an anaemic disorder. However, she had a serious reaction while treatment was being administered.
On June 29, Donna started to panic and eventually went into a shock and was taken into the ICU. After regaining consciousness, the woman was transferred back to the ward.
By then, her first COVID-19 test results came back as negative. But doctors at GPHC conducted three additionally COVID-19 tests; the last one returned as positive. However, that positive result was only officially known by family members after she died.
Sometime after June 29, the woman was taken back to the ICU paralyzed however, whilst there, doctors sedated her for almost five days until they can figure out a way to help her with her blood disorder.
But the woman never regained conscience and died on July 5. Her husband is now left with thousands of questions and he is demanding a full probe into the circumstances that led to his wife’s demise.
“I am not fighting for her because she is already gone, but I am fighting for the system in which the public can have trust in,” the husband related.
He believes his wife contracted the virus whilst at the GPHC. But the GPHC is claiming otherwise. The GPHC maintained that it practices strict protocols and quality control measures to prevent transmission at the hospital and to maintain a safe space for staff, patients, and visitors.
Meanwhile, this publication reached out to Regional Health Officer (RHO) for Region Nine, Dr Naail Uthman, who confirmed that all of the regional hospital staff who were in contact with Greaves were tested for COVID-19 and those results returned negative. They were all, nonetheless, placed in quarantine.
Moreover, INews understands that a doctor at GPHC who administered treatment to Donna has now tested positive for the virus.
