Gripping a blood-stained diaper in one hand and a catheter (urine bag) in the other, Shaffrool Hosein yesterday fled the San Fernando General Hospital without being stopped by security.
For two and a half hours, Hosein, 53, of Piparo, then sat on the road writhing in pain opposite the hospital at Chancery Lane, San Fernando.
But even though more than a dozen nurses and nursing attendants passed him by, none of them stopped to enquire why a man, who was obviously a patient, was sitting on the road.
The former meat cutter, who spent most of his life working at HiLo Food Store (Now Massy Food), said his life took a turn for the worst in November when he developed a parasite infection in his abdomen.
“They told me that I have worms in my belly. They said the medication which I need has to come from Cuba. I waiting for months and I am not getting help so I left,” Hosein said.
He explained that food was often brought late to Ward 3 where he had languished for three months and 14 days.
“Every day they would give me two slices of bread. If my pampers need to change the nurses don’t care. The doctor told me that he has to cut my skinny leg and use the skin to seal the wound on my belly,” a crying Hosein said, wiping away tears.
He said around lunch time yesterday he decided to leave the hospital, as he feared he would die from hunger.
Using the elevator, he said he went to the ground floor and then dragged himself towards the Paradise Pastures gate, which is usually manned by security.
Hosein’s common-law wife, Linda Chin Leung Fatt, said she was appalled that none of the guards saw Hosein when he left.
Pointing to a gaping bloodied wound under her husband’s navel, Chin Leung Fatt said she was fearful Hosein would get another infection. She said he was expected to undergo surgery yesterday, as doctors had advised her to get blood for the operation.
Chin Leung Fatt said nurses often had to keep Hosein tied to the bed.
She said their two daughters Simone, 19, and Samantha, 20, were worried about their father’s condition.
After being contacted yesterday, SFGH medical director Dr Anand Chatoorgoon arranged for an ambulance to take Hosein back to the hospital.
He also said he will investigate how Hosein managed to leave the hospital without being seen.
Manager of security services at the SWRHA, Steve Lezama, escorted Hosein back to the hospital in the ambulance.