
This is such a tragedy. This 12 years old kid should been alive today if he had the proper dental care. His tooth infection went to his brain and no, I am not talking about a country in Africa but the USA. Sad.
QUOTE |
Doctors say a tooth infection is what lead to the death of a 12-year-old Maryland boy reports Mary Bubala of CBS station WJZ-TV in Baltimore. Deamonte Driver complained of headaches before he died Sunday, from a brain infection that was caused by an untreated infected tooth. He spent more than six weeks in the hospital. "His last words to me was, 'Mom, make sure you pray before you go to bed'. I believe in my heart that he knew something wasn't right," Alyce Driver, his mother said. Driver says she did not have health insurance and unfortunately, she never found a doctor who accepted Medicaid. She believes had the family been able to afford dental care, she may have saved her son's life. Laurie Norris of the Public Justice Center in Baltimore says Driver had an appointment with a specialist on Jan. 8. The Medicaid paperwork got sent to a shelter where they were no longer staying, and the appointment had to be canceled. "Homelessness shouldn't be a death sentence for our children. We have to fix this," added Norris. |
My big question about this is what else did she try to do? It seems to me that if your child is in pain and no one will help then you will either approach the media, charitable organization or some other means?
This brings up the big flaws in our care of the homeless. The way I understand it, folks can't stay in any one shelter for more than a set time. So they are always moving, and if they need to get important mail - as in this case - but have had to move to another place, then what happens? It's a very sad situation, one that I can't even begin to see how it will be resolved. Very painful for this mother to have to deal with. How many thousands more are in this situation?