A tragic incident at a Sunday school in October last year, has snatched the sight from one eye of an East Canje Berbice minor, leaving his parents to turn to the public for advice and help.
Jason Persaud, 11, of Lot 26 Betsy Ground Village, East Canje Berbice, is now forced to attend a clinic at the Georgetown Public Hospital every month, after a nail was thrown at him by another child at his Sunday school, in October last year.
On October 7, 2018, the lad left home around 8 am and ventured to the Sunday school, which was being held at a church located a stone’s throw away from his house. However, his mother, Beena Persaud, 32, told Stabroek News that about thirty minutes later, she saw a member of the church rushing toward the house, carrying her son.
“The sister tell me how a boy pelt he with a four inch nail and buss he eye”, she said.
The woman stated that she immediately decided to take her son to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital for medical attention, since she noticed “a string hang out he eye and he eye running water”.
However, the woman said to her surprise, the doctor on call that morning “bandage he eye and write one prescription to go get one eye drop to throw in he eye till Monday morning to carry he back”.
She claimed, “The doctor that went deh call the eye doctor and explain over the phone what happen to my son and he tell them wah fa do”. The woman noted that while she was a bit skeptical about the treatment, in her mind she had no reason to question the medical professional’s judgement.
However, close to five months later, now she questions whether enough was done at the county’s main health institution to assist her son. She said she believes had her son been transferred that very day to the Georgetown Public Hospital, he would have stood a better chance of retaining his vision.
Persaud then stated that the young man was in pain and agony for the rest of the day following the accident, as he barely slept and only cried.
She said the following day, she and her husband returned to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital with the child, however, it was then that they were informed that their son needed to be rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital for an emergency surgery. “The eye doctor say he can’t look it after cause some machine na work right now, so he father had to go with he in the ambulance to Georgetown”, she recalled.
Persaud’s father, Michael Persaud, explained that upon arriving at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Monday, the doctor present became upset with them over why they had waited so long to rush the child to the hospital. However, they explained that they had taken him to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.
The father explained, “When we take he Monday to New Amsterdam Hospital, we wait and when the eye doctor come he say this thing deh bad because one string was hanging out, so them do up he book work and rush he to Georgetown right away, when we go there the doctor start fight why we wait so long, right away they take him upstairs and do a surgery”.
The man related that after the surgery, the doctor explained to him that they were unable to save the vision in the affected eye.
He further noted that his son’s eye would often become red and itchy. “Them say that not suppose to happen and Georgetown give us some medication but it still happening, them change his medication and still,” he said.
Clinic
Meanwhile, the father, who weeds yards for a living, explained that he is finding it extremely difficult to take his son every month to the clinic at the Georgetown Hospital. The man explained that he could not afford to take his son on his clinic date on Thursday last and has since requested another date from the hospital.
He related that the church where the incident transpired, had initially promised to finance all medical treatment, however, after making a donation of slightly over $40,000 in cash, the pastor attached to the church said they could not assist further.
Additionally, the man explained that the matter was reported and he was given a medical document by the Reliance Police Station to take to the Georgetown Public Hospital to be filled out. He said he would check from time to time with the institution about the document but is yet to receive it, and is unaware whether officers of the law have since uplifted the document from the health institution themselves.
The man noted that the father of the child who reportedly threw the nail at his son’s eye, has since approached him and offered to assist financially. Persaud noted that the man said that he could only assist with $10,000 every month, due to his own financial constraints. However, Persaud explained that the man stopped after doing that for only two months.
Persaud said he worries for his son and the life he would now have to lead not being able to see from one eye. “He na able go school, he was suppose to write common entrance this year and he na go school since it happen. When he walk, he a knock up and he na able walk in a straight line, so is like now he a learn back everything and sometimes he not hearing in the one side ear, sometime he does tell me like it lock down,” he stated.
He further stated that his son was a slow learner in school and now he wonders what life will be like for Jason after losing his sight. He said at nights, he would sit and stare at his son with tears in his eyes wondering, “If me for dead and he get big what will happen to he?” Persaud said he also often wonders, “How people go treat he, if them go want hire he and give he a work, what he life gone be like now”.
Young Jason Persaud, who has an older and a younger brother, clutched on to his father’s arm throughout the entire interview with Stabroek News.
The father, who broke into tears while explaining his financial situation, made a call for help. He said he is also in need of medical advice as to the way forward. He further called for the authorities to hold the church and the child’s parents accountable, since according to him, his son was in the church’s care when the incident transpired. The man is also seeking assistance from public-spirited persons. He can be contacted on telephone numbers 326-1114 or 659-1345.