By Mandy Thompson
A carpenter has had his left leg amputated as a result of poor medical care after a road accident and his family is blaming the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), which is now investigating the case along with the Medical Council.
Devanand Nauth, 47, of 71 New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara was riding his bicycle on August 4 along the public road when he was struck down by a speeding car. He was sent flying several feet and sustained head, back, spinal and leg injuries.
He was rushed to the WDRH, where he was treated and sent away. According to his relatives, he was told by the doctors that “it is nothing serious” and he was subsequently taken twice to the hospital and was told the same thing by doctors.
But after his last visit to the institution, Nauth was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), where it was discovered that he was seriously injured and had developed gangrene—the potentially life-threatening condition arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies—in his left leg, resulting in it being amputated. Nauth was also admitted to the hospital’s High Dependency Unit (HDU), where he remains a patient approximately ten days after the accident.
When contacted, Region Three health officer Dr. Ravindranauth Persaud said that the region is aware of the case and along with the Medical Council of Guyana is investigating it. “I am aware of it.
As a matter of fact, it was brought to my attention on Wednesday and I referred it to Georgetown and we are aware of the allegation and we are currently investigating that,” he told Stabroek News.
“The Medical Council called us yesterday (Sunday) and asked us if we are investigating that and we said yes and they ordered us to have reports from all the doctors that looked after him and we are in the process of getting that done and that will be ready by Wednesday and we will submit it,” he added.
A “numb” Nauth told Stabroek News the accident occurred when he went to visit his mother, as he normally does, at her Crane, West Coast Demerara home. She was not at home and as he was heading home, he was struck from behind by a car bearing the registration number PMM 607. “…When me come out a de street a car come and hit me,” he said, adding that when he woke up he found himself on a bed in the hospital.
Nauth’s relatives are also accusing the police of not properly investigating the accident, for which they also blame the WDRH, since the first doctor that administered treatment told the investigating ranks that Nauth was in a good condition and it was nothing major. As a result of the doctor’s report to the police, the driver of the car was released the same night the accident occurred.
Nauth’s mother, Shirley Persaud, told Stabroek News that she returned home on Sunday afternoon to find her injured and “foul smelling” son at her house.
She said that she began to frantically question his brother as to why he was at home and was told that “the doctor discharge he and I bring he home.” Upon hearing this, the woman said, she did not pursue the matter further although Nauth told her that he was experiencing numbness from his chest down.
‘He’s okay’
Giving a timeline of their runs to the hospital leading up to him being admitted to the GPH, Persaud said that last week Monday, she took her son back to the hospital for an x-ray and he was again examined by another doctor, who told her that he was okay. She said that when the doctor told her that everything was okay, she explained that her son was complaining of numbness from his chest downwards. However, according to her, this seemed to irritate the doctor, who repeated “he is okay” several times before dismissing her from his office.
Persaud said that after the stench emanating from Nauth’s legs intensified, she took him back to the hospital on Tuesday and related his history to the nurses on duty. “When a carry he back at Best (WDRH) a male nurse clean de foot an send he home… after we went home an dis boy a tell me he nah feel, me say dis boy a mek joke, but after me study de thing during de night me call he sista an tell she me nah like how Deo look an leh she carry he a private docta,” she said.
Sita Ramsahoye, the man’s sister, said that she attempted to seek a private doctor’s intervention but was told to take him back to the hospital. Acting on those instructions, she said that she took him back to the WDRH, where doctors then realised that Nauth required advanced medical attention and he was referred to the GPH.
Upon receiving medical treatment at the GPH, Ramsahoye said that she was informed that her brother’s left leg would have to be amputated because he had contracted gangrene and it was spreading rapidly. On Thursday, Nauth’s leg was removed.
Ramsahoye said that she is being “pushed around” by the police when trying to get details about the accident.
She said that the family is peeved at the fact that the police have summoned her brother to answer the charge of using the road in a dangerous manner, while allowing the driver of the vehicle to go free. Nauth was summoned to appear at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrates’ Court on September 7.
Ramsahoye said that the action of the police at the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station pushed her to visit the Divisional Commander, Christopher Griffith, who promised to have the matter investigated thoroughly. “The Commander call the Officer and tell he to arrest back this man and the Officer keep telling the Commander that the man live at Providence so the Commander tell he to get on he bike and go find the man and arrest he,” she said. (Additional reporting by Lakhram Bhagirat)
