Kesia Jardine, a mother of two, who died three days ago of COVID-19 after going to the hospital for heart issues should not have died, her close friends say.
Two close friends of Jardine told this newspaper that Jardine’s husband took her to the hospital on August 8 after she complained of having pains in the region of her heart. Maxine Pollard and Edris Grosvenor, who are friends of Jardine spoke with this newspaper yesterday. In giving their rundown of the events leading to their friend’s death they noted that as persons involved in medical practice, they were very concerned when their friend alerted them of her chest pains but was not getting any treatment in relation to that but rather was told that she could not be treated until she was cleared of the coronavirus.
This was the first alarming sign to both family and friends. Both friends related that Jardine was taken to the hospital after she complained of chest pains. They said that upon arriving at the facility, she was admitted to the medical ward, but after being tested for COVID-19, she was left alone as she waited for her results. Her friends said they both would contact her often and most times she would be alone suffering with her chest pains. Eventually she was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where the disheartening treatment continued.
They recalled that when Jardine got to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), a procedure was done and the results showed that she had a sinus tachycardia and anteroseptal myocardial infarction. When she got to the hospital she had complained of tightness in the left side of her chest which meant her heart was being affected and was causing the pain which she was feeling. Fluid was discovered in her lungs and she had a blood clot. She was given heparin for the clot and put on oxygen.
Rather than assisting her with further treatment for her now-obvious heart condition, she was told she would need to wait until they could locate a cardiologist and she would also have to wait to be cleared of her COVID-19 test. About two or three days later she was told that the test came back positive and she would have to be in quarantine for 10 days. She was then transferred to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.
While at Diamond she was given Panadol and antibiotics. They said that nothing further regarding her initial reason for going to the hospital was checked even after she complained to the nurses. Pollard said that her friend was in such distress caused by the pain that she eventually got a hold of an official’s number and called him. He then contacted the hospital and told them to take her back to the GPH.
This was the only time that a nurse stayed with her while she was at Diamond. The ambulance did not arrive until six hours after the call was made. When she returned to GPH, she was once again left on her own and spent most of the time there in pain while Grosvenor helplessly witnessed her friend’s suffering over the phone.
Pollard related that Jardine’s death certificate states that she died of an acute infarction, analectic shock, and was COVID-19 positive. However, the two friends said that they are very upset with the treatment Jardine faced while at the hospitals. Pollard said that after Jardine’s EKG result showed her heart rate was at 174, a medical professional at the hospital where she works (she resides in the US) saw it and was very concerned. She noted that this was in the United States and that the professional said that the patient showed symptoms of suffering a heart attack and he even questioned why the person was not being treated.
She said that this just adds to her hurt, knowing that her friend might have been saved had the heart condition been a priority. She said that her friend’s heart condition should have been the main focus since she entered the hospital. While she understands that COVID-19 is a deadly disease and needs to be treated as such, the heart condition should not have been ignored or left for second. She is of the view that her friend suffered the heart attack because of negligence on the doctor’s part.
While, Grosvenor shared her opinion about what took place over the last three weeks and her heartbreak at losing her friend. She said that she does not blame the hospital but the staff, who she insists, need to take responsibility for failing her friend. She said that the staff neglected the most prominent issue that caused Jardine’s death. She said that the staff was not empathetic, sympathetic, or caring towards the patients and if just one staff member had cared enough to take care of Jardine, she might have been alive today. She said that she prays that no other person has to suffer the way her friend did.
“I am angry but I’m not speaking out of a place of anger. I am speaking out of a place of hurt…Another patient was crying out to her and the nurse said I got my family. I can’t take it home to them. Kesia assisted that patient even though she herself was in pain. If you don’t feel like you can show empathy then you need to give up on being a nurse. I have total disregard for the people who let her die. Total disregard for them. All we need is some kind of accountability for the negligence that Kesia suffered at the hands of the Georgetown Public Hospital. We practically watched her die because every day we hear her begging them for help. Call the cardiologist,” the woman said.
Grosvenor said that her friend was given aspirin and another medication four hours before she died but she was not treated for the ailment she should have been treated for. She said “If a patient comes to a medical facility presented with chest pains that becomes the focal point of the visit,” and added that the way Jardine’s death was announced to her family was also “callous”.
