Four-year-old dies after injection at Suddie Hospital

A four-year-old girl died on  Wednesday after she allegedly had an allergic reaction to an injection that was given to her at the Suddie Public Hospital, Essequibo Coast.

Dead is Valentina Persaud of Jib, Essequibo Coast who was admitted to the Suddie Public Hospital on Wednesday morning last, after she suffered a seizure. This is according to the mother of the deceased, Vevina Persaud who watched her only child die at the hospital.

Vevina told this newspaper  that her daughter went to bed on Tuesday night and appeared to have been in a normal state.

“But sometime around 02:00 hrs, she woke up uneasy and feverish. After she woke up she was a bit in and out of sleep. Later on her body went into a seizure, so like around 04:00hrs I took her to Suddie. When we reach at Suddie they give her an injection called valium and she we went back to normal again.”

Vevina said that the valium injection was given to her daughter several times before Wednesday’s visit to the hospital. “After receiving the valium injection, Valentina went to sleep, and back to a state of normalcy. She was eating and playing as normal. However the nurse at the hospital gave her another injection at around 3.30  on Wednesday afternoon. When she got the injection she started to cry really hard, but then it was like her breath started to cut. Shortly after she started to pant for breath. A doctor passing the ward saw  that my daughter was panting for breath and immediately called for oxygen.”

Sadly, all efforts by nurses and the doctor to save the child’s life were in vain. Little Valentina succumbed shortly after.

It is believed that an allergic reaction to the injection caused her death. This was the only explanation given by doctors to family members, Vevina said.

“The doctors said that the reaction happened so fast, that they were unable to respond in time in order to save her life.”

When asked if she knew the name of the injection that was administered to her daughter, the mother of the dead child said that she was not certain.

The grieving mother said the last 15 minutes of her child’s life will forever be engraved in her memory.