A HARARE woman, Chipo Samoyo, is seeking justice for her 16 year old son, Courage Mambingadya, who was dropped from a hospital operating table, during a botched medical operation, leading to him developing a condition called laryngeal papillomatosis.
Courage was four years old at the time.
Samoyo alleges that her son was neglected by the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals authorities of causing him to develop the condition which is a rough outgrowth formation on his voice box.
She said she suspected there was more to her now 16-year-old son’s condition than just falling off a theatre bed.
“I am finding it hard to believe that my son was paralysed from just falling from a bed. I believe the doctors did not tell us exactly what transpired on the fateful day,” Samoyo said during a function where a local firm, Providence Human Capital, donated a wheelchair for Courage.
She said her son’s life turned upside-down on April 24, 2004 when nurses at Parirenyatwa, who were reportedly carrying him from a theatre bed to a stretcher, accidentally dropped him.
She told a heartrending tale of how the incident had negatively impacted on her husband, Jeremiah Mambingadya’s life, as he was now epiletic due to depression as a result of watching his son’s suffering.
Courage, Samoyo said, was admitted at Parirenyatwa on April 19, 2004 and got into theatre the next day.
The rest is history: April 20 will remain etched in the family’s minds.
“My son got into theatre at 7:30am on April 19, 2004, for a voice box operation with a Dr Marimo and I spent almost 16 hours without seeing him. No one gave me updates about the procedure and around 12 midnight, I was told that Courage had fallen from a theatre bed and he was now in the intensive care unit (ICU),” she recalled.
Courage would spend the next five months in hospital and the day he was finally discharged, the family was told not to pay hospital bills.
The Department of Social Welfare is said to have written a letter to allow him to access free medical services.
“Yes, they might have done this to lessen our burden, but I think it was a cover up,” Samoyo said.
Parirenyatwa chief executive officer Timothy Zigora denied Courage had at any time been admitted at the institution.
“In 2004, the year you refer to, I was at this institution and such a big thing would have come to my attention. It never did. It’s 12 years later now and why is this woman saying these things now?” Zigora queried.
But a letter shows the teenager was admitted at the hospital on the April 23, 2004, and ended up in ICU.
“Thank you for your assistance in the management of the above patient whom we admitted on 23.04.04. He was being followed up in the outpatients department for Laryngeal Papillomatosis. An emergency tracheostomy was performed on 24. 04.04 and he was admitted to ICU,” read a letter signed by one Dr Nyamunda and consultant surgeon, Mr Tumushime, dated June 22, 2004.
When told about the letter, Zigora said the woman should approach the health institution’s public relations department.
“Tell her to go to public relations and tell the people there that I sent her,” he said.
Samoyo, however, said she had approached the said department on several occasions with no success.
“Parirenyatwa refused to give us a helping hand as they said they were not responsible for my son’s paralysis because I signed an indemnity form before his operation,” Samoyo said. Newsday
2 Replies to “Parirenyatwa Hospital Negligence, Mother Seeks Justice”
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This woman is carrying a heavy burden by being the “sole” care giver of son and husband with chronic conditions that require her care 24/7.
Someone please explain the nature of injury if any that resulted from the fall, laryngeal papillomatosis, tracheostomy, depression, epilepsy, significance of indemnity form and how the indemnity is being applied to her son’s problem.
An understanding of the health care needs of her son and husband, coupled with strategies that may help her cope with the burden could reduce the anger that this woman is experiencing, as well as how continuation and escalation of the anger could affect her health, and ultimately the health of the whole family.
Mubatsireiwo, ndapota. The Social Services Officer from whom she found some form of joy along this journey, could be a good place to start with the explanation process. Collaboration among professionals helping her in this regard could go a long way in easing the whole experience for the struggling mother/wife. She needs INFORMATION.
This woman is carrying a heavy burden by being the “sole” care giver of son and husband with chronic conditions that require her care 24/7.
Someone please explain the nature of injury if any that resulted from the fall, laryngeal papillomatosis, tracheostomy, depression, epilepsy, significance of indemnity form and how the indemnity is being applied to her son’s problem.
An understanding of the health care needs of her son and husband, coupled with strategies that may help her cope with the burden could reduce the anger that this woman is experiencing, as well as how continuation and escalation of the anger could affect her health, and ultimately the health of the whole family.
Mubatsireiwo, ndapota. The Social Services Officer from whom she found some form of joy along this journey, could be a good place to start with the explanation process. Collaboration among professionals helping her in this regard could go a long way in easing the whole experience for the struggling mother/wife.