Mother struggles to care for child with cerebral palsy

Gloria Johnson believes negligence by hospital staff six years ago left her without a womb and with a child with cerebral palsy.

Her daughter, Gabrielle, was due on January 22, 2013, and Johnson said she went to the hospital in St Ann, where the doctors induced labour.

She said that she knew something was wrong after she started to feel pain that was not synonymous with giving birth.

“Mi did feel so weak and mi beg the doctors dem to give mi a C-section and them seh no, mi and mi baby healthy. I was crying out to them and no one paid mi any mind until I said that I felt as if I was going to faint,” she said.

The pain increased and doctors said they could not hear her daughter’s heartbeat. Johnson said they began turning her daughter in her belly.

“I felt them dragging and dragging her and after she come out, I saw them rushing with her because it seems her heart was not beating,” she said.

Johnson said because she was losing blood, the doctors were forced to remove her womb.

She also believes the baby was injured as they tried to remove her.

“My daughter was born with a broken hand and she had to be in a caste until it was healed, and then I was told that she had cerebral palsy,” she said.

FINANCIAL BURDEN

She said that news pained her heart because she was told that her baby was healthy before she was induced.

She said that she has been struggling to take care of Gabrielle.

The many trips from Murray Town, St Ann, to the Bustamante Hospital for Children, and the University Hospital of the West Indies have become a financial burden.

She said that her spouse is helping but the expenses are getting too much.

“This is a little farming community so there are days when we get good crops and days that we don’t, but we try our best to get the best medical care for her,” she said.

Johnson told The STAR that Gabrielle is unable to walk or even sit up. But “Wi always talking to her and playing with her and make her happy”.

Johnson is troubled with her own medical issues. She said lumps are forming in her neck and she was told by doctors that she needs surgery to get them out.

With such a weight on her shoulders, Johnson said she has to press through for her daughter.

“I broke down last year because I could not manage any more. I had to stop carrying her to the hospital and even the therapy that she was getting, I had to stop. I want to get her back on track but I would like some help,” she said.

Presently Gabrielle needs a phenol injection (which helps with muscle movement) every six months to keep her muscles from getting rigid and she needs to continue therapy in hopes of walking one day.

Anyone who is able to help Gloria Johnson is asked to call her at 876-389-7989.