Third person dies in Freeport crash... family calls for investigation

TWO WEEKS after fighting for his life following a fatal car crash in Freeport, 36-year-old David Brewster died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, yesterday morning. However, bereaved relatives are blaming his death on negligence on the part of the medical staff, and are calling on hospital authorities to launch an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his demise. Brewster, 22, of Corallita Drive, Pleasantville, is the third crash victim to have died since the two-car smash-up at the Solomon Hochoy Highway. The other two victims, were Indranie Rampersad, 25, who died on the spot and Marc Lee Wong How, who died two days later at hospital. Brewster’s mother, Gloria Brewster, yesterday claimed that her son would have been alive today if the nurses and doctors had paid close attention to him. The distraught mother became emotionally overwhelmed, pausing for breath at times, as she recalled to Newsday the final moments she spent at her son’s bedside, on Wednesday evening.

Brewster said her son had a high temperature and was “mumbling all kinds of things.” She said he was lying in his own filth and was slipping in and out of consciousness. His sister, who did not want to be named, said she told the nurse several times that her brother’s condition was deteriorating but she only nodded and continued writing her notes. Brewster said her daughter packed a pair of gloves with ice and placed them under his arms, in an attempt to break the fever and they started cleaning him. The nurse, the woman said, came almost an hour later to assist him. “All of a sudden I see the doctor coming with oxygen and they shouted at us to leave,” she recalled. Brewster said she cannot understand how her son died because his condition was improving and he was alert.

The mother said she was forced to get a letter from her lawyer requesting that she be given information about her son’s condition. However, she said the doctor had an attitude problem and kept telling her that he was “fed up” speaking to family members. “The doctor told me that my son would be cripple and like a vegetable because of his head injury,” she revealed. She said she had spent a lot of money for a cat scan and several other tests. According to Brewster: “I think that they could have avoided this. My son did not have to die. If they had paid more attention to him he would still be alive. I want to know what was really going on,” she added. Brewster said the post-mortem would be performed today at the mortuary of the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.