March 29, 2024

INFO 10

THE TRUTH IN BLACK AND WHITE

Linden teen to undergo surgery to avoid becoming brain dead

Jaheim Straker

By Abiola Archer

Jaheim Straker, the 16-year-old fourth form student of the New Silver City Secondary School (NSSS) who was attacked by a classmate last Thursday, is now a patient at the St. Joseph  Mercy Hospital and is scheduled to undergo a $1.2 M emergency surgery Wednesday evening.

His mother Fiona Lewis, said she was only able to secure $400,000 as down payment in order to get the surgery done immediately and has to pay the remaining by Thursday. She also said the doctor related that her son will be brain dead if they wait any longer to perform the surgery and questioned why he wasn’t referred immediately.

Straker, was discharged on Monday morning from the Linden Hospital Complex ( LHC) and referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to see a neurologist which was scheduled for next week, but instead, Lewis followed her instinct and made an appointment to see a doctor at a private institution.

According to Lewis, ever since the incident, her son has been responsive, talking and moving around and was able to give a statement to the police in the presence of the social workers when they met Tuesday afternoon.

Straker was viciously attacked by a classmate and his friends last Thursday. He was hit to his head with a wood and the initial medical report claimed he only suffered from a fractured skull. The incident sprung from an earlier altercation the two parties had playing Pagwah. However, Lewis learnt that her son’s skull was dent and resting on a crucial part of the brain.

Lewis believes that she will not get justice from the engagements she had with the police and social workers. She said while her son related that the mother of the perpetrator visited him in the hospital, she never personally contacted her and so she is taking care of her son by herself.