Boy, 6, Died in His Father’s Arms from THE FLU While Waiting to Be Seen in Hospital as Parents Pleaded for Someone to Help

Boy, 6, Died in His Father’s Arms from THE FLU While Waiting to Be Seen in Hospital as Parents Pleaded for Someone to Help

A Kentucky boy died in his father’s arms in a hospital waiting room a few days before Christmas, with his parents claiming staff failed to help them and were saying: ‘Wait your turn.’ The sad turn of events will bring tears to even the hardest heart:

mikey

Michael ‘Mikey’ Guallpa was rushed to St. Elizabeth hospital in Florence on December 20. He was vomiting and shaking and had been to see a doctor earlier in the day after coming down with the flu.
Mikey’s mother, Zara Jimbo, said her husband pleaded for help, but they were told to wait and sit down in the waiting room. About 20 minutes later Mikey vomited again and passed out.

He was pronounced dead a short time later.

‘They should have got to him earlier when we were asking for help, when we were begging to, you know, he needs help,’ Mrs Jimbo told Lex 18.

‘He’s not okay, but they were looking at us like we were crazy.’

‘This is not a hardware store or grocery store. This is a hospital about health. It’s like health, helping people, saving lives.’

Mikey’s distraught father, Jose Guallpa, said he is struggling to come to terms with what happened.
‘It’s not right, just please look at him,’ he said. ‘Lady all what she got to say was just wait for your turn. What? Wait for my turn to see my son die?’

The hospital released a statement they couldn’t comment.

‘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,’ part of the statement read.

According to ABC 6, a Northern Kentucky Health Department official said the child who died in that area had a ‘chronic health problem’ that may have made him or her more susceptible to flu.

The station also reported that at least 15 children across the country have died from complications of the flu through December 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
‘I still can’t digest this. It’s just a bad dream,’ Zara Jimbo said. ‘He was my baby. He was an angel. He was happy.’

‘I don’t know what else to say about him,’ said Jose Guallpa.
‘He was just a good son.’

Mikey first showed signs of sickness on December 18 when he came down with a fever. His parents to him the doctor the following day. He was diagnosed with the flu and was told to take some medicine but not prescribed anything. As he got worse the following day, with vomiting and diarrhea, they took him to hospital. The first-grader had been treated at the hospital before for asthma. Why was he not on a list of urgent patients? Why was he told to wait and wait? This is a tragic loss of life that should have never occurred. Rest in Peace, Little Mikey. You truly are an angel now.

LEX18.com | Continuous News and StormTracker Weather

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