Crooked Tree Mom Dies Suddenly in Hospital; Family Demands Answers

Deonnie Robinson

A family from Crooked Tree, Belize District is mourning the unexplained death of one of their own. Thirty year old Deonnie Robinson, a mother of three children, was admitted to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital on October twenty-eighth for a throat infection. While hospitalized, it was discovered that there was a swelling to her brain and from there, her condition deteriorated significantly. Three days later, she died and her mother, who was at her bedside, says that in her final hours, she was denied access to her daughter. And now that she is seeking answers, the hospital is not providing her with any details. Pastor Mildred Crawford recounts the series of events that has the family claiming that Deonnie died as a result of neglect.

Mildred Crawford

Pastor Mildred Crawford, Mother of Deceased

“They took her over to the hospital. I was not there then; this was Friday evening. Saturday evening about two-thirty or three I arrived there at the hospital and my daughter Denise was there. So I relieved her and I stayed there. I stayed at that hospital until seven-thirty that night talking to my daughter—most of the time, ih had ih eyes closed—but talking to her. I tell ahn ih neva had to answer me…just say hmmm or like that so yo noh hurt yo throat. Seven-thirty I left; mi next daughter take over. She stayed there during the night. Mi next daughter name Anna McKenzie. Sometime during the middle of the night, she called and said ma dehn ker Deonnie upstairs. I said okay. Ih comfortable? She said yes. I said okay. Six o’clock Sunday morning, I was there to take over from Anna. She left and I stayed there all Sunday, talking to Deonnie, give ahn water to drink now and again, give her some soup to drink. And I keep tell her yo noh need to talk, just say hmmm or like that. Just rest. But when I reach up there, I was very surprised. She was a different looking person. By this time, her eyes was like bugling and she was like this…I can’t even tell yo how ih mi look, but it was very scary and then she was breathing and then water was coming through her tube. In the night, then the guy put up the drip dehn…and ih put the drip and I say, dah so much drip yo have to put and ih say dah doctor order it. I said okay. And then ih put the drip up and ih start to lose the drip, but da noh one drop, dah noh two drip, dah noh three drip, dah noh four drip. He lose all of them together. Till he finished, there was one in a bottle like that. Till he finish dah bottle done dry before he left the room; I just watch dah thing just di go like that.  And I say that noh di go too fast and he say no. I said okay…maybe the fever they had to wash it out or something. So he left and I sit there with my daughter until five-thirty. And five-thirty, ih come back. And ih come back again with wah next set of drip and she said they give her when I wasn’t there. So this dah like three times, maybe on the hour noh. And ih come back with the same thing and ih put them again. But this time, ih had five some big thing…ih mussi like that soh long and kinda stout like syringe looking. And while ih di run di drip, ih di put this also ina ih hand. When I reach back to the hospital…I gwen up and the security stop me saying you can’t go up. Is aid why and I pull out my thing [pass]…I say see, I have one thing. And I left my baby up there. And she said no, you can’t go up there because right now medical ward ina hell and doctor mad and ih noh want nobody up pan the verandah up there. Everybody have to stay down here. I never know why she tell me that, but I know I have to talk to doctor to find why everything di look how ih look. And I went up the stairs, hurry up the stairs; the doctor and everybody around the desk and I pass them right there and to my shock when I hit the room, they had my daughter laid out. Nobody tell me nothing. I just meet her right there and when I hold ahn, ih still warm. And I start to shake ahn and no response. Now by this time, there is only one bag ah drips heng up pan di thing, everything else removed and they have ih bed so clean.”