Published:Sunday | August 2, 2015Nadine Wilson-Harris
When doctors from two local hospitals performed a heart surgery on five-month-old Chardonnay Taylor in 2009, someone left the suture needle behind and failed to properly close the opening in her chest.
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| Nicola Irving and her daughter, Chardonnay Taylor. |
Today, Chardonnay is six years old and, despite her mother's best efforts, neither the doctors from the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) nor the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC) who operated on her have made any effort to remove the needle or complete her surgery.
Nicola Irving said her daughter was born at UHWI in 2009 and she was informed shortly after that she has Down's syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus and atrioventricular canal defect (hole in the heart). A few weeks after, doctors there attempted a surgery to close her patent ductus arteriosus, which essentially is the opening between two major blood vessels leading from the heart. This procedure was, however, unsuccessful and Chardonnay was referred to the BHC.
A follow-up surgery was undertaken at the children's hospital later that month and saw a medical team from that hospital collaborating with a group of surgeons from overseas to correct her heart defects. While the hole in her heart was corrected, an X-ray that was done post-surgery showed that a needle was left behind in her chest.
DANGEROUS TO REMOVE
"When I ask them about the needle, they said that they won't go back in to try to remove the needle because it is very dangerous. I ask them what will happen in the long run and they said that it's a slim chance the needle will move," said Irving.
The mother said she expressed concerns about the possible effect the needle might have on her child in the future, and asked for a letter outlining what the doctors had stated to her. However, she said the doctors refused this request. more
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