Mom shocked as only child dies after surgery

Last Monday when Kenesha Webley took her only child Cornell Hall to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) for tibia reconstruction surgery, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, the 16-year-old would be correcting his 'bow leg' and would soon be back at classes, preparing for CSEC exams. Cornell, who enjoyed playing football, anticipated being back on the field with his peers. However, despite what was supposed to be a low-risk surgery, Webley is currently making funeral arrangements. Cornell died less than 24 hours after the operation. His mother is demanding answers, as an autopsy conducted at Tranquility Funeral Home yesterday came up inconclusive.

"So now the matter is going to coroner's court. They are saying they are seeing blood on his brain. They said it was about two tablespoons of blood but it would not be enough to kill him. There are abormalities on his liver. My son did not get blood in time because according to them, the type of surgery normally have minimal blood loss," Webley said.

Tibia reconstruction is a surgical procedure often performed to treat bone tumours or fractures, with reconstruction options including prosthetic replacement. Webley said although Cornell had sickle cell, he was in good health, hence why he was cleared for surgery.

"We went in on Monday and he was the first on the list for surgery the following morning. Prior to that we had discussions with the doctors about the type of surgery and they spoke to me about the risks involved for healthy persons and others who have other medical conditions. My son had sickle cell but he is not sickly and was very healthy," she said.

Webley said that during her son's surgery, a doctor called, saying that they did not receive the correct portion of a surgical item that was ordered. She said when she enquired about sourcing the other items, she was told that the operation had already begun, and they would have to improvise.

"They told me that they were going to do a bone graft and they will be taking bone from the hip. I could not say no because I am not the expert there and my son was in surgery. About 5 p.m. they told me he was out of surgery and I could come and see him. His face was swollen but he was talking and saying he was thirsty. He was interacting with the doctors and even told them that his pain level was about six and so on. He then looked at me and said 'Love you' and I said 'Love you too'. That was the last time I saw my son alive," Webley said.

She said approximately two and a half hours later, a doctor called, informing her that they had underestimated Cornell's blood loss and that his blood count went to four.

"However, they were able to give him a unit of blood and his condition had slightly improved. She (the doctor) told me that my son was very, very ill and that his heart can stop at any moment. Honestly, I felt heat coming out of my tummy and my body felt weak. She said my son had woken up and he was disoriented and that his heart rate was escalating," she said.

Later, Webley said she listened in horror as she was told to have someone accompany her to the UHWI at once. She was allowed to hold Cornell's hand and talk to him, but he was unresponsive.

"They said he was likely hearing me but couldn't respond. My son had a breathing tube attached to him. After we left the hospital we got a call from renal department hours later to say that Cornell was going to need dialysis. So I was thinking that although it wasn't a good thing, at least I was getting some answers on how to treat the situation," she said.

"About 20 minutes later, I got another call from another doctor who told me that they had to rush my son to emergency surgery and they could not wait on my signature. They said they were having some issue in the thigh-groin area where he had taken the bone graft from. After that I started getting calls and they were asking how far I was from the hospital," Webley added.

Webley said she blocked out the thought of death, but to her dismay, Cornell was pronounced dead on Wednesday at 12:25 p.m.

"I went numb and my sister started screaming. I asked them to remove her from the room because that was going to break me down. I needed to know what went wrong because my son came in healthy for a knee surgery, so how did it get to death?" she said. As she grieves, Webley said she has many unanswered questions.

"Going into theatre you would need to have an extra supply of blood because you have to expect the unexpected. You cannot go in and say you didn't expect him to lose any blood especially when you perform another procedure where a bone graft was done. One of the doctors stood up and said my son's death was a sudden one and they have no idea what happened and it need to be investigated. I need answers from UHWI," she said.

THE STAR reached out to the UHWI via email seeking comment, but received no response up to yesterday.