Please, help my only son

A 27-year-old Tobagonian woman yesterday pleaded with Health Minister John Rahael to investigate the circumstances which has led to her four-year-old son being warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) for one month, when he was only supposed to have spent a week at EWMSC to undergo a simple operation. Theresa Des Vignes and her 33-year-old husband Brian Mark, told Newsday that their son Donnell Mark came to Trinidad on February 22 to undergo a colostomy (a surgical operation in which a permanent opening from the colon is made). Des Vignes and Mark explained that this procedure was necessary to correct an intestinal problem which Donnell had developed from birth. Mark said while Donnell’s initial recovery was going well, Donnell subsequently began to complain about feeling unwell and his stomach became enlarged.

Des Vignes said doctors at EWMSC performed tests on their son and told them there was a blockage within his abdomen but they were having difficulty pinpointing it. Mark said Donnell was moved to EWMSC’s Intensive Care Unit and last Wednesday had to undergo surgery because he picked up a bacterial infection which caused blood poisoning. With tears in his eyes, Mark added that Donnell’s condition has placed a strain on his heart and kidneys and his son is currently connected to a respirator to help him breathe. Des Vignes added that doctors at EWMSC said tracheotomy would help Donnell to breathe but efforts so far to obtain the service of a specialist from Port-of-Spain General Hospital to perform that procedure have so far been unsuccessful.

Both parents have expressed concern that doctors are not treating their son’s case with the urgency that it requires and fear the worst if the current state of affairs is allowed to continue. A student at the Goodwood Early Childhood Centre in Tobago, Mark said his son is a very active child who enjoys numerous hobbies and it is heart-wrenching for them to see Donnell in his current state. Both parents appealed for Rahael to do whatever he could to help Donnell. “He is my only son. I do not want to lose him,” pleaded Des Vignes.

Mark, an employee at the Public Health Department in Tobago, said they have been renting a house at Dibe, Long Circular since last month and have had to put out a considerable amount of expense to meet their basic needs and tend to Donnell’s treatment. He added that by the end of March, they would have to seek alternative accommodations and are even considering the option of sending Donnell abroad for treatment. Contacted yesterday, North Central Regional Health Authority communications manager Charmaine Codrington said she was unaware of the situation but would speak with EWMSC medical chief of staff, Dr Rowland Moze, to see what could be done to help.