Erin family: Investigate our mother’s death at Point Fortin hospital

Two women are calling on the authorities to investigate what they claim was the inhumane treatment of their mother by the staff of the Point Fortin Area Hospital. Their mother has since died.

Vearle and Candace Joseph believe their mother, Carol Joseph-Alexander, 63, might have lived if the hospital staff had listened to her pleas while in their care.

Joseph-Alexander died on January 24 at the hospital in Clifton Hill. An autopsy report said the mother of two and grandmother of five died of a heart attack. A former TTPost worker, she lived at Francis Village, Erin.

Last October, the sisters lost their father – Joseph-Alexander's ex-partner, Vishnu Achaibar – also to a heart attack.

Vearle said her mother complained of severe pain in her chest and the left side of her body on January 23. A driver took her to the hospital around midday.

She left her job site in Couva, and at about 2 pm Vearle reached the hospital but was not allowed to go inside.

"Sometime after 9 pm, staff discharged my mother although she kept telling them she was still not feeling well. She said she did not want to go home. Mommy was not looking well," said the bereaved daughter.

"As she was walking out, she started to vomit. Candace ran inside for a bag and alerted the staff."

Vearle and Candace said "a particular nurse" saw their mother and, instead of helping, said in an aggressive tone, "What is she still doing here? She needs to go home and rest."

Weak and intimidated by the reaction, Joseph-Alexander begged staff to keep her at the hospital overnight.

"She also asked the nurse to retake her blood pressure. They ignored her. To do that, they said she must go through the entire triage process again. The place was not crowded. There were about three people (patients)," the daughter said.

While the sisters waited outside, owing to covid19 health measures, the shift changed, and their mother waited for hours on a chair inside.

"Shortly after 3 am on Sunday, she collapsed and became unresponsive. The patients help put her in a wheelchair. When I saw her, Mummy’s eyes were rolling," Candace said.

"That is something I will never forget. I was talking and praying with her, but she never responded. Even patients who we do not know were asking the staff to help her. She died at 3.15 am."

The sisters said they are left tormented by the incident.

Saying no one can bring  their mother back to life, the sisters hope their call for an investigation will prevent other people from "going through a nightmare like this."

Their mother's funeral took place on Saturday at the St Francis RC Church in Erin.

An official from the South-West Regional Health Authority on Monday promised to speak with other officials before commenting.