Aryanna Mohabir and her brother Ricardo
Some three months after the deaths of two siblings at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), family members are claiming that officials are not communicating with them on the issue.
Family members on Monday staged yet another protest outside of the hospital and have vowed to continue protesting until they get answers.
Specifically, they are calling for authorities to explain to them the cause of death of one of the two children who died back in April.
Ricardo Mohabir, 11, and his sister, nine-year-old Aryanna Mohabir died days apart at the public health facility.
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.
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.
“I need justice for my daughter,” the children’s mother, Rihanna Persaud, told the media on the picket line.
“Every time, they asking us for two weeks’ time, we giving them, and we not just give them two weeks, we give them by the months and they not reaching out to this family and telling us anything, and why they keep hiding the results from us? We need to know, I need to know what my daughter died from,” the mother demanded.
“We give them more than enough time to tell us something,” she argued.
The woman said the family has been calling almost everyone connected with the case but to no avail.
“When we call the numbers them, they just keep putting us on to different, different people and they saying they will look into it…this is overbearing,” she vented.
The woman is urging all concerned citizens to support her family in this protest, noting that “I’m not the first and I wouldn’t be the last so I’m pleading and asking the public people to come out and support me on this protest. We will not stop protesting until we get answers.”
Reports are that Arianna Mohabir 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 boy had a fever and was being treated at home, however, he became unresponsive, causing the family 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.
