State’s deadly failures
Man, 23, dies after strike ‘paralyses’ hospital, ambulance arrives late
HIS long battle with a facial birth deformity had touched the hearts of POST readers who donated generously so he could lead a normal life like other 8-year-olds.
Fifteen years later Ricardo Chetty, the young man who overcame life’s hurdles to become his family’s breadwinner, is dead.
Suffering from flu-like symptoms and battling to breathe, Chetty, 23, could not be tested for pneumonia or TB last week because state laboratory staff were on strike, leaving the nearby Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital “paralysed”.
To make matters worse, the provincial ambulance, summoned on Wednesday because he urgently required to be nebulised, arrived 90 minutes later, his devastated dad, Denzil Chetty, told POST yesterday.
Ricardo had died about 30 minutes earlier.
“We are very, very upset about this. We’re all traumatised,” said Chetty.
“If the ambulance had come on time, my son should still be alive. If the (lab) staff had not been on strike, he could have been properly diagnosed and treated.”
Chetty, 46, explained: “Ricardo had the flu for about two weeks. On Tuesday, he was battling to breathe so we phoned an ambulance which transported him to the Unit 10 community clinic.”
While they arrived there at 11am, with Ricardo showing signs of distress, they were allegedly ordered by a guard to follow a long queue before he could get medical attention.
“He only saw a doctor at 3pm. The doctor was worried that he had to wait so long,” he said.
Ricardo was nebulised and an X-ray confirmed there was fluid in his lungs. He was given an injection and medication and told to return the next day, said Chetty.
They returned on Wednesday and the unemployed father of four said his son was still unwell.
Uncertain whether he could have contracted pneumonia or TB, he was told he needed to undergo tests at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital.
But, while it was a Pretoria hospital that turned his life around 15 years ago, Ricardo could not turn to the Phoenix one because National Health Laboratory Service staff based there had downed tools.
They returned home from the clinic at about 10am and when Ricardo’s breathing worsened at noon, his worried father called for the ambulance at about 12.45pm.
“They told me they would be 15 minutes but they only came around 2.15pm,” said Chetty.
In the meantime, he had also called private emergency services provider, Reaction Unit SA, who declared his son dead. “My wife and I held his hands and tried to rub his chest. He had a slight pulse, then nothing,” said Chetty.
He said when the state ambulance crew arrived, he “chased” them away. “I told them that because of poor service delivery I lost my son.
“My whole family is traumatised because we have lost such a young person, my only son.”
Ricardo’s death is a massive blow for the Palmview, Phoenix family.
Chetty said his wife Linda, 43, and their 15-year-old triplets – Abigale, Bianca and Celene – were all struggling to cope.
One of the girls had been at home and watched her brother die, he said, and was inconsolable.
He described his son as jovial, fun loving and respectable and someone who had a bright future.
“I am not working and he did everything for us. He took care of us and made sure we lacked nothing.
“He got his licence and I helped him buy a car. He even had a girlfriend at one stage. I am so proud of my son and my family misses him dearly.”
From being a shy boy, Ricardo had blossomed after surgery and treatment for haemangioma, eventually working for a fabric company in Mount Edgecombe.
The condition caused his right cheek to continuously swell up.
Chetty said POST had told his son’s story when he was 8.
“My son had to undergo treatment at the Pretoria Academic Hospital and after our story appeared in the paper, readers came to our aid and paid for our bus tickets and accommodation. Ever since the treatment started, Ricardo became more confident and stopped shying away from people because of his condition.”
Ricardo’s treatment continued at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.
“In order to control the swelling he went to hospital twice a month for injections,” Chetty said.
He said he was considering his options, including legal action, as someone should account for his son’s death.
A board member of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Mervin Reddy, who also chairs its complaints committee, said members of the National Health Laboratory Service had been on strike during the course of last week and essential services, which included drawing blood and subsequent testing, were not conducted.
“They are demanding higher wages and they (staff) would not go back to work if their demands were not met,” said Reddy.
“Without them, if anyone needs a blood test, it could not be done. They offer a core function and as a result, the hospital becomes paralysed.”
The Department of Health in KZN and the NHLS had not commented at the time of publication.