Dad in distress after baby dies - Was looking forward to first Father’s Day

Father's Day will be devastating for 25-year-old Anto'wayne Clarke Senior, as he lost his only child last Saturday.

"I have not slept, eat, or drink from Saturday. Every time I close my eyes, I see him in the last moments because he died right in front of me," he said.

Clarke's son, eight-month-old Anto'wayne Clarke Jr, was born last October, and his parents were told that he had sickle cell trait.

He said that they got some tests done and were waiting to see if he had the full-blown strain of the disease.

For months, Clarke Jr was happy, as his father said he was not sick and was a vibrant child. But last week they had to rush him to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital.

"About seven last Friday, he developed a fever. My babymother rushed him to the hospital and they bathed him and inserted a pill in his bottom. The next day, they transferred him to the paediatric ward. The doctors there said that he was very sick because he has sickle cell and they were going to treat him. They said that he had infection on his liver and it was causing poor blood circulation," he said.

The Redground, Negril, native said he was also told that his baby needed blood and they signed a form giving the OK for him to receive it.

Clarke said that doctors informed them that his baby needed to be transferred to the Cornwall Regional Hospital or the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

However, they were full and they got space for him at the Mandeville Regional Hospital. Sadly, Clarke Jr did not make it there.

"They (Mandeville) asked for a CT scan and said after the scan they would take it from there. They (Savanna-la-Mar Hospital) said he needed to go into an intensive care unit because they do not have that sort of equipment. We did the CT scan and they were escorting him to the paediatric ward but he passed away," he said.

I don't know myself

Clarke Jr died minutes after nine last Saturday night and since then, his father has been unable to think of anything else.

"I don't know myself right now. Words can't explain. He is my one and only child. The doctors were talking to me after but honestly I didn't hear a thing. When they took me to a room and said that my son passed away, I didn't hear anything after that. I am traumatised," he said.

He told THE STAR that he had to be taken to the hospital on Monday because the pain of losing his only son was more than he could bear.

He said the family is awaiting an autopsy.