The father of a 6 year old boy claims that his son died of the flu after the medical staff at a hospital refused to treat the boy in time to save his life. Jose Guallpa said his young son Michael, nicknamed Mikey, fell ill on Dec. 18 and was brought to St. Elizabeth hospital in Florence, KY on Dec. 20. He had been diagnosed with the flu by the family doctor earlier that same day, but the doctor did not issue any prescriptions at that time. Guallpa says that his son was vomiting and shaking but every time Guallpa asked for help, the hospital staff looked at him as if he were “crazy” and told him he had to wait his turn.
He says he finally began screaming at the staff, demanding that they help his son, and that little Mikey was eventually taken to a treatment area. However, there were no beds available. Zara Jimbo, the boy’s mother, explained: “They should have got to him earlier when we were asking for help, when we were begging to, you know, he needs help. He’s not okay, but they were looking at us like we were crazy.”
St. Elizabeth Hospital issued the following statement to the media in response to the boy’s death: “We are unable to comment or release any specific information. As an organization, St. Elizabeth takes protecting the privacy of our patients’ protected information very seriously.”
Jimbo said that she and Mikey’s father were begging and pleading with the hospital staff to help their son, but they were told they needed to wait in line, reports the Daily Mail.
The little boy’s death illustrates how deadly the flu can be. Children, seniors and people with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk. It is unclear whether Mikey had any previous health conditions that would have made him more susceptible to severe complications from the flu, although a county health official suggested that might be the case.
Mikey’s parents are shocked and grief stricken over the preventable loss of their son, who they say was a happy little boy. “I still can’t digest this,” Jimbo said, “he was an angel.”