By Kaya 959 News
The Gauteng Department of Health is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a 26-year-old woman who was reportedly left untreated for 24 hours at the Helen Joseph Hospital.
Sichelesile Dube was rushed to hospital by her mother last week. According to Nqobile Dube, she found her daughter’s lifeless body in a wheelchair when she returned to the hospital the next day.
She claimed that her daughter was ignored by medical staff at the facility. She is now demanding justice for her daughter’s death.
Dube was taken to hospital after falling severely ill and being unable to eat. Her mother said the woman’s legs were also swollen.
Sichelesile said she took her daughter to the hospital just after midday on Monday and at 9pm, her daughter was given a drip and left in a wheelchair.
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Missing clothes
She said when she returned to the hospital the next day, she found her daughter unresponsive.
Sichelesile said she tried to get help from a nurse but to no avail and she then tried to pick up her daughter but realised her neck was stiff and her mouth was cold.
The hospital’s CEO confirmed that an internal investigation is underway.
The family has now been dealt another blow. The clothing that Dube was dressed in, has gone missing.
The DA’s Jack Bloom said the family needed to bury Dube in the clothing for cultural reasons.
“Dube wanted to bury her on Friday, but the hospital did not supply the clothes and Dube could not find her daughter’s belongings in a room that she was shown with a pile of clothes. According to Dube, it would be disrespectful to her family and ancestors to bury her without these garments,” he said.
Bloom said it was unbelievable that the hospital continues to bungle this matter with gross insensitivity to the traumatised family.
“They need to know why the hospital did not make every effort to save Sichelesile’s life, instead of totally ignoring her as she suffered in her wheelchair. I hope that hospital management learns from Sichelesile’s death to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again,” he said.
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