Family furious as patient dies after ambulance crashed

A Clarendon family is furious and demanding answers after an ambulance in which their relative was travelling crashed last Thursday. Hazel Beckford, 72, of Kemps Hill in the parish, died on Sunday. Relatives are adamant that Beckford died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident.

However, Joseph Grant, parish manager for the Clarendon Health Services, said there is no confirmation that the patient's death and the accident are correlated.

"It cannot be confirmed whether or not it is the accident (that caused her death). The patient came in for other serious complications, [so] we cannot say that it was as a result of the accident...no one can say that until it is properly checked out," Grant told THE STAR.

Four persons were injured in the ambulance that was involved in the crash on the Bustamante Highway in Clarendon.

"All now nobody nuh come say nutten at all, and in the accident she break har neck and bones. We need answers. If a never the accident she wouldn't dead. A innaa the accident she dead," cried Beckford's only daughter, Althea Donaldson.

Lisa Swaby, granddaughter of the deceased, said that when she saw a video of a wrecked ambulance on social media, her heart skipped a beat, as her grandmother was scheduled to be transported from the Lionel Town Hospital to the May Pen Hospital that same day. Her worst fear was confirmed when she glimpsed a piece of clothing in the video.

"I said 'An accident with an ambulance?' Then as the video moved across I said to my mother 'Nuh Mama Hazel that in a the ambulance?' And I said 'Yes, a the dress this weh me put on pan har this morning,'" related Swaby.

Beckford, a diabetic patient, was taken to the Lionel Town Hospital last Thursday, after relatives noticed her appetite had decreased, and "she wasn't looking too well." Swaby explained that the southern Clarendon hospital was the family's first choice, as Beckford was a patient at the clinic, hence the facility was fully cognisant of her medical history.

She added that the elderly woman subsequently developed breathing problems, and plans were made to have her transported to another hospital as Lionel Town, a type C hospital, did not have enough oxygen.

"They were looking to transfer her to May Pen (Hospital) or further. They said Mandeville would have been more equipped than May Pen, so it was when the ambulance was taking her to Mandeville, the accident occurred," Swaby said.

She shared that moments after she saw the video of the accident, the family got a call from someone who identified herself as a representative from the May Pen Hospital. Ironically, she said the woman requested biographical data for Beckford, but was oblivious of the crash.

"She said her call wasn't for the accident, it was to register her for the transfer (from May Pen to Mandeville Hospital)."

Swaby said that another call, which bore news of the accident, came two hours later. The family was informed that Beckford had suffered a broken collar bone, and cuts on her head and arm in the accident, and was admitted at the May Pen Hospital. Swaby said the elderly woman did a scan, which showed that she was bleeding in the brain. Her relatives are convinced that the bleeding was sustained during the accident.

An emotional Swaby recalled her grandmother as a loving woman who had a knack for fashion and shared a special bond with her grandchildren. She added that being blind was no deterrent for Beckford, who still opted to do small chores for herself. When asked what she will miss most about her grandmother, Swaby said, "I will miss everything."

The family is awaiting the results of the post-mortem to determine their next steps.