the goan I network
PANAJI
The family of 28-year -old Aloysius Alvares has alleged that the doctors at the casualty ward at GMC failed to tend to Aloysius for an hour and a half after he was brought to the hospital. Aloysius died at the hospital on January 17 after being taken there after meeting with a road accident near Green Park Hotel, Mapusa.
The sister, brother-in-law and cousin of Aloysius narrated the harrowing experience they had after calling the emergency service 108.
“We asked the ambulance to take him to GMC, but they refused and took him to the District Hospital where the doctors told us there was nothing they could do to help,” said Rohan Pinto, Aloysius’ cousin.
“After taking him to the GMC, he was lying on the bed for an hour and a half without any attention,” said Rohan. “The oxygen mask that they put for him was full of blood, it was heart-breaking when I walked in and looked at him,” he said, recounting that it was only after they used the political influence of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane that the doctor came and found another way to facilitate Aloysius’ breathing.
“Why do the people of Goa need to use political influence to get proper health facilities?” asked Rohan, adding that the staff also told family to lift Aloysius in the middle of the night and put him on a stretcher as he had to be taken for a scan.
Further, after his death, his brother-in-law Nelson de Souza lifted him and took him to the post-mortem table, as there was no staff there for the whole day.
“It was very traumatic for me as a family member to do it, and no one should have to go through this,” said
Nelson.
Aloysius arrived in bad shape: GMC Superintendent
Panjim: When contacted, Medical Superintendent (MS) of the GMC, Dr Bandekar, told ‘The Goan’ that Aloysius was admitted to the neurosurgery department, and the treating neurosurgeon said he arrived in bad shape.
“He had a “decerebrating head injury” (meaning the brain loses control over the body),” said Dr Bandekar.
The GMC kept him for a day. The first scan did not show a clot in the skull but showed Aloysius’ brain very badly damaged. In such a case, they don’t operate on the patient for 24 hours. The second scan showed a clot, so they operated on him the next day, but the patient expired due to the original injury, said the MS.
Family threatens to take legal action against road contractor, PWD
Panjim: Disillusioned by the apathy of the government, the family of Aloysius Alvares has said that they will file a complaint against the contractor for not following proper safety standards. They said that they might even take up the case against the PWD.
There are no signages instructing traffic on alternative routes, no street lights, no safety measures, said Alisha Alvares, sister of Aloysius, while addressing the press at Azad Maidan on Tuesday.
She said that while her brother always used a helmet, and was doing so on the ill-fated night, he had taken off his helmet due to poor visibility through the visor, and no lights on the road.
Aloysius is survived by his 26-year-old wife, two aged parents, a sister and her husband.
