“I would rather die than go to Helen Joseph”

Sheila Davis and Jenny Easthorpe are upset over what they are calling a “Helen Joseph butchery.” The mother and daughter are mourning the death of their husband and father who they are adamant would not have died had he been given proper attention at the Auckland Park based hospital.

Eighty-six year old George Davis went to Helen Joseph on 18 June for what a CT scan revealed was a brain haemorrhage. He was transferred to the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital for an emergency operation where he stayed in ICU until 2 July. He was transferred back to Helen Joseph’s High Care unit for eight days.

“He never went to the general ward, he was discharged straight from High Care to us,” said Easthorpe. “When we got home we realized he hadn’t been washed for the entire time he there. There was green fungus in between his toes and in his groin area. His scrotum was the size of a rugby ball. He wasn’t fed either; they kept him on a nutrient drip. He was so swollen that he looked like the Michelin man.”

“There were terrible bedsores on his back, hip and penis. The sore on his ankle was down to the bone. They didn’t take all the stitches out of his head either. We tried to look after him at home for a few days but eventually we called in Hospice because it was clear that he wasn’t making progress,” said a distraught Mrs Davis.

The two would have celebrated their 60th anniversary at the end of this month.

According to Easthorpe, when the nurse from Hospice arrived she said she could smell the sores from the entrance of the house. On her third day she advised that he be admitted immediately. Seven days later Mr Davis passed away.

“My husband was never sick; in sixty years he must have only had the flu three times. For him to live out his last days like that is wrong,” said the teary-eyed widow.

“How many others has this happened to? Government hospitals are there for people who can’t afford private care, it’s horrifying that this is what they must go through,” said Easthorpe. “They took away my father’s dignity and I will fight back for it for him and for those who may not have the education or means to do something about it.”

“I appreciate that he was old and just did a brain operation, but I don’t appreciate how he came out of Helen Joseph. It makes me scared. I would rather die,” concluded Davis’ traumatized grandson, Brendon.

NMT contacted Helen Joseph’s CEO’s office for comment but they were not yet available to do so.

*Editor’s note: Some pictures have been removed due to their graphic natures.