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Family blames lax hospital for 13-year-old's death
JOHANNESBURG - An East Rand family is demanding accountability, after their 13-year-old died after being discharged from hospital without a proper examination.
Tumiso Ntsoane was struck by a stray bullet on the head while in the assumed safety of his home.
In a story that paints a bleak look into the state of health in the province, the family says he was given pain medication and discharged only to later succumb to his injury.
They are now demanding answers.
The tragedy began on Friday afternoon when Tumiso and his twin brother Tumi were watching television on the couch.
His mother heard a loud bang on the roof and soon discovered a hole.
Moments later, they found a stray bullet on the floor.
Selina Ntsoane said, “When I got out of the bedroom I asked them what hit the roof. Tumiso responded that he was hurt and when he touched his head, it was bleeding. That's when I started to panic. Tumi then picked up something on the floor and said this is what hit Tumiso.”
The family says an ambulance rushed Tumiso to Phulosong Hospital, but they were shocked by what happened next.
His mother said, "When we arrived at the hospital he was walking by himself. When we got there they placed him on a stretcher. They only gave him an injection and stitched him."
"They said he will be okay and the doctor discharged him. They said it's a pain injection. After that they stitched him up. They never even gave him a drip or did an X-ray on him.”
Ntsoane said she and her son spent the night on the benches, as they had no transport at the time.
But despite her son’s condition, her cries for help fell on deaf ears.
Ntsoane said, “He was unconscious from 10pm and I told them he was not waking up. They said he will be okay with the injection they gave him. I kept on telling them he was not waking up and they came back to me and told me the doctor had already discharged him. In the morning my neighbour fetched us and I took him home.”
At home, Tumiso’s condition worsened.
"When I tried to wake him up, he didn't wake up and I woke up his sister and grandmother and told them he is not waking up. That's when his nose started bleeding. I tried to phone the neighbours to help us take him to the hospital. It was around 4am. When we arrived at the hospital we were carrying him. We went inside and told them we brought this boy who was here the day before, that was hit by a bullet. They put him on a stretcher...That's when they told us," she said.
The Gauteng Health Department says it's probing the matter..
Head of Communication at the Gauteng Department of Health Motalatale Modiba said, "Given circumstances surrounding this case this has been correctly classified as a patient safety incident (PSI). It has since been reported on the national reporting tool for PSIs and the facility’s PSI Committee convened to review the case.”
Police are investigating a case of murder.
Meanwhile, the family is struggling to afford a burial for their son.
A distraught Ntsoane says her son may have survived, had he been properly attended to.
Now she's demanding accountability, for what she says is negligence by the hospital.
As her son's body lies in the government mortuary, the constantly anxious Ntsoane says she can barely sleep.