The family of Navin Bheesham Singh, 30, is seeking answers on the cause of his sudden death days after receiving treatment at the Princes Town District Health Facility for a pain in his right knee.

They held a news conference yesterday at the OWTU conference hall, Paramount Building, Circular Road, San Fernando calling for a probe of his death on October 30.

His grieving mother, Bhagwantee Singh-Weekes, who wept as she recalled the suffering of her first son, claimed Navin was not throughly examined at the health facility.

“This doesn’t make any sense. We want to know why on Monday (October 27) at the Princes Town health (facility), he did not get the medical attention that he needed,” she said. “If my son had received the proper medial attention and testing, he would have been alive today.”

Singh-Weekes vowed to protest until she gets answers.

“I want to know what caused my son’s death,” she said. “I am going to protest in front of the hospital if I don’t get some answers.” The family is considering its legal options.

According to the death certificate, Navin died of Septic shock and necrotizing sascitis of the right limb.

Septic shock is a complication of an infection where toxins can initiate a full-body inflammatory response and often occurs in people who are elderly or have a weakened immune system.

Septic shock also leads to a significant drop in blood pressure which can lead to respiratory, heart, or organ failure and death, while necrotizing sascitis is a rare infection of the deeper layers of skin and subcutaneous tissues.

Navin’s sister, Shalika Weekes, recalled he had initially complained of a pain in his knee, and her parents had taken him to the health facility on October 25, a Saturday, where he was given an injection and medication.

“By Monday (the 27th) his foot began to swell, upon seeing the swelling and the severity of the pain, mom insisted he go back to the (health facility).

Navin was in so much pain that daddy and another brother had to help him go to the car, when he reached to the (health facility) he had to get a wheelchair,” she said.

“He had to wait his turn to see a doctor but upon seeing the doctor, he was out in five minutes, and when my mom asked Navin, he said they give him an injection, and they didn’t even watch the leg, they just give him an injection and send him home. They didn’t do any tests,” Weekes added.

She said Tuesday, October 28, was Navin’s 30th birthday and he was in so much pain her parents had to allow him to sleep in a room downstairs in their home. Early on the morning of the 29th, they had to take Navin to San Fernando General Hospital.

“On Wednesday, 3 am, mom woke up and saw he was very ill. My dad and my brother took him to the hospital about 7 am. Navin had to wait again, his eyes were yellow and the doctor asked why we now bringing him to the hospital,” she said.

Weekes told the doctor Navin was taken to the Princes Town health facility twice, on October 25 and 27. Then, the doctor said to their mother, “Ma’am your son is dying.” He said Navin had an infection which caused blood poisoning which in turn caused septic shock and led to organ failure. Navin died on Thursday, October 30.

“We prayed for a miracle, my brother would listen to my daddy for everything, and my daddy beg him to stay and not go, we beg God,” Weekes said.

She noted she and her parents had contracted Chikungunya, the mosquito-borne virus, but had self medicated and had survived, but her brother, who had been taken to a medical facility, died.

Then, Navin’s mother spoke up, lamenting, “We stayed home and took Panadene and we survived our virus, we took him to the medical place and we get back a dead child, he went to the doctor and he died.”

Navin’s fiancee Janice Soogrim sat silently through the briefing at which she had brought along her wedding dress and their rings. They were to marry next June.

Navin, who had worked as a welder with a private contractor, was cremated last weekend.

South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) chief executive officer, Anil Gosine, when contacted was unaware of the incident but said he would request a report from the San Fernando hospital’s medical director.

The hospital and the Princes Town District Health Facility fall under the SWRHA.

 

Extracted From:  Trinidad & Tobago Newsday  Newspaper