Jamaican student clings to life on hospital bed in USA

A promising 23-year-old Jamaican business student, Amber Ebanks, is in a fight for her life at the United States of America (USA)-based Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx.

Doctors have declared her brain dead and are pushing to take her off life support, a decision that her family is desperately trying to prevent, especially since her father is yet to leave Jamaica to be by her side.

Amber, an international student who moved to New York in 2021 to pursue her degree in business management and accounting at Monroe College, was a vibrant young woman with dreams of entrepreneurship. Her life took a tragic turn when a minor stroke in February led to the discovery of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in her brain. Despite undergoing surgery on July 30 to address the AVM, complications have left her in a coma.

Amber's elder sister, Katelyn, was barely able to speak as she described the situation to THE STAR.

"My sister is in the palliative care unit at Montefiore hospital in Bronx, New York, the Moses campus," she shared.

Palliative care units provide specialised medical care for people living with a serious illness.

Katelyn alleged that the hospital's staff have been eager to pull the plug on her sister.

"On the same day they pronounced her, organ donors were there asking the family questions," she said with a weakened voice. "She has been here for two weeks, just two weeks, and she's so young. It's like they don't want to give her a chance," Katelyn bemoaned.

As Amber lies in palliative care, her father, Richard Ebanks, is racing against time to be by her side.

"Daddy is attempting to come over. He went to the embassy and he was granted his visa but it's a process, but at the hospital they are hastening this process. I wonder what the hurry is," Katelyn questioned.

The elder Ebanks is clear in his mind that his trip to the USA will not be to bid goodbye to Amber.

"I want to go see her, and my intention is not to 'pull no plug.' That has not been my decision, I have not and will not give them that permission," the father said.

"I believe she can overcome this because miracles do work, and I am not looking at the picture that they are trying to paint. I am looking at the fact that she has a heartbeat, and she is still alive."

Ebanks has indicated that he is prepared to make his journey to New York once his documentation is cleared. "I do not think what they are saying is her journey. She is young and has a full life ahead."

Amber's loved ones hold on to hope, drawing inspiration from similar stories of miraculous recoveries.

"Look at the girl who was beaten and stabbed by five women at a party," Katelyn said in reference to Kaylan Dowdie.

Dowdie spent the last 18 months in hospital, much of which was on life support, following a vicious attack at a party in November 2020.

"She looks so good right now you would never believe they said she was brain dead," Katelyn highlighted, believing that her sister can make a similar miraculous recovery.