My angel gone too soon

GONE too soon my granddaughter.

After only two weeks on mother earth, you were taken away from us because of an uncaring staff and a collapsed public health delivery system administered by heartless, insensitive and dishonest leadership.

A leadership that joyfully robs the ordinary poor of the little they have; even of donated medicines and sundries.

On that day, I thought I heard your usual cry in the house; in your mother’s room, but I was wrong. You were no longer with us.

I vividly remember that Thursday morning when we took you to Chikonohono Clinic in Chinhoyi thinking that a minor pneumonia could easily be treated at that level.

To our surprise, the health facility was deserted — there was no nurse to attend to you.

We had to quickly seek the services of a private doctor.

The diagnosed pricking pain had affected the smooth flow of blood in your tiny and resilient body.

You were put on a drip and on oxygen, and within a short space of time you appeared to be out of danger.

You were smiling and suckling from your mother. We were all happy that our little bundle of joy had recovered.

Little did we know that the joy would be short-lived; that this would be your last day on earth.

Despite our happiness, I pleaded with the doctor for you to stay overnight at his surgery, under close observation.

Like most citizens in this country, I no longer trust the services offered at public health facilities manned by a disgruntled workforce with no medicine or equipment.

The doctor assured me that you would be fine since not much was expected from the hospital staff other than administering drip and oxygen which could be avoided anyway.

Allia my little angel, your life could have been saved had nurses at one time beacon of hope (Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital) did what they were supposed to do — just to give you care while on life support for a few minutes.

Your mom tried to save you but failed. I saw pain and sorrow in her eyes. It’s unfortunate, we lost you and my heart pains.

You gave me social eminence and in a flash, you took it away with you. My consolation is that you are now in the loving arms of the Almighty God because He said: “Let thy children come to Me.”

RIP my granddaughter, Allia. Gone too soon.