Mother desperate to visit comatose son in US

Nadine Johnson is having trouble eating and sleeping as she pleads with the relevant authorities to assist her in travelling overseas to be at her gravely ill son's bedside.

Her son, Ikeba Diah, 23, who is a US citizen, is currently in a coma at the Cleveland Clinic Florida after developing complications from a liver transplant. Although she was given a referral letter from the hospital to take to the US Embassy explaining Diah's current medical condition and the urgency for her to be by his side, Johnson said her humanitarian visa application was denied. She is devastated.

"I need to see him because he is dying. When him did able to talk him say 'Mommy mi need yuh. Mi in pain, Mommy mi need yuh'. That was last week Tuesday and that make mi heart really weak. Mi feel so bad when dem turn mi down and mi just can't get to go see mi son," said Johnson.

"All mi do is cry all the time because mi just want to reach out to mi son. Mi a beg somebody, just have a heart and help mi out because mi son need mi bad. Mi can't stand the thought of my son dying enuh, but I want to see him before, just in case," she said amid tears.

The letter from the Cleveland Clinic Florida, which is signed by transplant hepatologist Dr Nikhhil Kapila, stated that Diah has altered mental status because of his medical condition and needs a healthcare proxy, which is a legal document used to tell medical providers who should make decisions about a patient's care if they're not competent to do so. The letter stated that, since Diah is not married or has any adult children, his mother would be considered his immediate next of kin and is the appropriate decision maker.

Johnson, who resides in Clarendon, said she was praying heavily for a breakthrough, but her hopes went up in smoke when the visa was denied.

"I got the letter last week and, for some reason, mi think mi did ago get through. I don't know why but dem ask mi some question. But, when mi a answer, them give mi a green paper, so I don't know. But all I know is that I can barely eat or sleep," she said.

Johnson said that she last saw Diah last year when he visited Jamaica to attend his father's funeral. The first of two children, Diah migrated at the age of 10. His mother said he lived what appeared to be a healthy life until last month when he fell ill and was rushed to the hospital. Medical tests revealed that he had acute liver failure. She said he went into a coma following the operation, but regained consciousness before being placed in a sedated coma earlier this week because of bleeding in his pancreas.