By Cecily Asson Sunday, January 29 2012

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A photo of Akeel Simon lying in the hospital mortuary provided by his family....

A 25-year-old Erin mother on the way to take her sick child for treatment at the San Fernando General Hospital on Friday, is now calling on the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) to investigate why an ambulance refused to assist her when she flagged it down and asked for help after the car in which she was travelling broke down.

Stacy Simon, of Happy Valley, Erin, told Sunday Newsday yesterday that her son, 21-month-old Akeel Simon, died in her arms while a Good Samaritan fought through heavy traffic along the Gulf City Link Road, La Romaine, to get her way to the SFGH.

She said, “I am still in shock that it happened. I was left on the roadside holding a dead baby in my hands. I begged them (emergency medical technicians) to carry me to the hospital but they said it was against their policy. My son took his last breath in my hands and that hit me. All I know is that I end up in the middle of the road bawling. It hit me real hard.”

Simon said her son had Down’s Syndrome, three holes in his heart and an enlarged liver.

“Doctors never thought he would live past a year and he did. He fought against all odds and made it to one year and nine months. I am hurt only because I believe our health and social services never gave him a fair chance, as we always had to fight down to the very end.”

On Friday morning, Simon explained, her son began to run a high fever and she decided since it was his clinic day at the SFGH, she would take him there for medical attention. Her decision is now one she will never forget, as he died before he got help.

According to Simon, at about 11.45 am while rushing him to hospital, upon reaching La Romaine, her cousin’s car encountered mechanical problems. While waiting to see if the car could get started, she said Akeel’s condition grew worse. She stopped a car and the driver offered to take them to the hospital.

“I don’t even know the driver but he drove straight to a nearby medical centre where a doctor had a look at Akeel and advised we get him to hospital as quick as possible. I felt a little lucky as I came out and saw an ambulance with a blue stripe coming,” she said.

She was, however, disappointed with the response she received from the EMTs when she asked for help.

“Two persons in the ambulance told me it is against the policy to help persons like her on the road. I pleaded with them, but they say they couldn’t do it and drove off and left me in the middle of the road.”

She said the same Good Samaritan called her back into the car and took her to the SFGH.

“As I reach casualty, I hold my baby and run straight inside bawling. Doctors pulled me aside and told me he was dead. They gave me an injection to calm me down,” she recalled.

Simon said, since her son’s birth she has faced an uphill task to take care of him.

“His medical bills amounted to as much as $700 per week. He needed heart surgery and all doors were closed in my face wherever I turned for help, including the social services. I just couldn’t afford.”

She said she was unemployed, but with the help of relatives had purchased an oxygen tank and nebuliser to assist her child.

“It was the most I could afford.”

She said Akeel, her second child, was everybody’s pet at home.

“We will miss him,” she said.

His funeral has been planned for Tuesday. When contacted yesterday on the allegations made by Simon, chairman of the SWRHA, Lackram Bodoe, said “discretion should always be an option in such circumstances”.

He added, “If a complaint is made the matter will be investigated.”