(Jamaica Gleaner) July 15, was a morning of trauma for the staff and patients of the male surgical ward at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester.
The early morning solitude was ruptured when an alarm was raised by a patient in distress.
Hospital sources say nurses who were on duty rushed to the cubicle from which the distress call was made only to find Donovan Stewart, a 38-year-old patient with a broken leg, attempting to strangle another.
But the victim was almost helpless.
Restricted by two broken legs and with little strength in his arms, the victim was only able to call out for help.
That’s when the nurses on duty and another patient attempted to pry the palms of the enraged Stewart from the docile victim.
It is reported that Stewart then kicked the nurse with his broken leg, injuring her with the orthopaedic pins.
As the injured nurse backed off, Stewart reportedly continued his attack on the patient, this time, pulling one of the orthopaedic pins from his leg and using it to stab the helpless victim in his neck.
According to hospital sources, a policeman who was guarding a prisoner in an adjacent cubicle intervened as Stewart was about to stab the patient a second time.
“The policeman told him to stop several times, and as he was going to stab the man again, he (the policeman) shot him,” said one person who witnessed the attack.
Our checks indicate that Stewart had no record of a mental condition, however, he was earlier complaining about pains in his injured leg.
His victim, in the meanwhile, is the survivor of a robbery sometime ago in which his wife was killed.
This morning the Health Ministry said it is providing counselling for the victim as well as the staff of the Mandeville Regional Hospital.
