Family members claim toddler was sent home to die
Family members were at their wits' end after their two-year-old daughter was discharged from Rob Ferreira Hospital with no signs of improvement after suffering through four months of agonising pain that had been worsening by the day.
PIENAAR – Family members were at their wits’ end after their two-year-old daughter was discharged from Rob Ferreira Hospital with no signs of improvement after suffering through four months of agonising pain that had been worsening by the day.
The toddler was admitted in February after feeling drowsy and vomiting.
The hospital then allegedly claimed that she might have brain cancer, according to medical assessments.
This was according to the father, whose name is being withheld to protect the child’s identity.
“Since admission in February her health has deteriorated daily to such an extent that it is now unbearable,” he said.
The child had reportedly gone blind although her eyesight had been normal when she was admitted.
“It is very painful dealing with a child whose whole body is swollen, who can no longer sit and has also turned blind. This was after she had been to hospital, a place where she was supposed to have gotten help,” he said in agony.
The hospital had allegedly promised to apply for a disability grant for the child after her brain operation, but the mother was then told to do it herself and take her child home since there was nothing more it could do for the toddler.
The desperate father said he was now considering legal action against the hospital as he was stuck with a terminally ill child and did not know what to do.
“I went to the health department and was referred back to the hospital.
“I do not know whether to take her back because my family fears she might die there, since it has claimed there is nothing more it can do to help her.
“What if we insist on taking her back and the staff members finish her off? Instead of performing its duties as a medical facility, it saw my child as a burden I should take home to die,” he added.
Spokesperson for health, Mr Dumisani Malamule, said it was currently investigating the matter.
“We are currently studying the patient’s file to check her diagnosis and to find out exactly what happened and the reason why she was allegedly discharged.”
He added they would like to request the parents of the child to immediately return her to the hospital so that she could be attended to.
