Rose Hall champion cyclist, Beyonce Ross, 15, who was bedridden with a brain tumour which she found out on Monday was not cancerous was rushed to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital yesterday after her condition further deteriorated.
According to a relative, Ross has since been transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where doctors say that she is “brain dead”.
However the family is not losing hope as the teen’s heart is still beating and she is said to be a fighter.
Her mother, father and brother are all by her side at the city hospital where she is said to be on a life support machine.
Up to press time yesterday the teen’s condition was listed as critical.
The three-time junior gold medal cycling champion fell ill in early February. After an MRI scan, it was discovered that Ross had a tumour in her brain.
It was reported, according to the teen’s mother Yonette Clarke, Ross’s brain “had a buildup of fluid and all of that, so [we were] referred to [neurosurgeon] Dr. (Amarnauth) Dukhi”.
“Because of her condition and the state she was in, he requested an operation to help to drain the fluid that’s building up in her brain, so he put a shunt in her brain right now, that’s draining the fluid from the brain to her abdomen”, she explained.
Ross underwent her first operation on April 13, after which she spent six days at the Georgetown Public Hospital. Clarke had related that after the operation her daughter’s condition improved “a little”.
Dr. Dukhi then referred Ross’ case to a doctor visiting from Jamaica who recommended that a biopsy be done which showed that the tumour was not cancerous. “Dr. (Ivan) Crandon did the biopsy [two] Wednesdays ago, Dr. Dukhi had indicated to us that where the tumour is located, it is in a critical spot in the centre of the brain”.
The results of the biopsy revealed that the tumour was not cancerous which gave the family with strong faith more courage to fight the illness, as they were seeking information as to the way forward for the surgery to remove the tumour in hope of Ross returning to her every-day life.
A club in the town of Rose Hall was planning to come on board in order to assist with the cost of the surgery, while the regional democratic council at their statutory meeting yesterday noted that they were planning to make a donation to the family as well.
