DWINDLING HOPES
26-y-o policewoman prepares to return home as efforts at life-saving liver transplant fail
Published:Saturday | July 15, 2023 | 12:10 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
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DONIQUE ANDERSON, a 26-year-old Jamaican policewoman who travelled to the United States in hopes of getting a liver transplant to save her life, is preparing to return to Jamaica amidst dwindling hope that she will get the much-needed transplant...
DONIQUE ANDERSON, a 26-year-old Jamaican policewoman who travelled to the United States in hopes of getting a liver transplant to save her life, is preparing to return to Jamaica amidst dwindling hope that she will get the much-needed transplant that could save her.
Her mother, Gem Donald, told The Gleaner that Anderson was discharged from Harlem Hospital as the doctors have told her that she could die at any time without the liver transplant.
“They were hoping to transfer her to Columbia Hospital to get the transplant, but Harlem Hospital was unable to do so because Donique lacks the necessary insurance to cover the cost of the operation,” said Donald.
Anderson’s situation began unfolding when she was sent to the United States by the Jamaica Police Federation on May 5 with the understanding that arrangements had been made for her to see a doctor at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan about her condition.
Donald said that after three days of her arrival and not hearing anything, she reached out to the Federation, but did not receive any definite information about the doctor she was to see at Bellevue.
In the meantime, her daughter’s condition continued to worsen and she reached out to Dr. Rupert Francis in Florida, who put her in touch with members of the Northeast Health Task Force who were able to get her daughter treated at emergency rooms at various New Jersey hospitals each time she needed emergency treatment.
Though being treated at various hospitals in New Jersey on an emergency basis since arriving in the United States, Anderson was unable to get the detailed treatment that is required for her to be on the list for liver donors.
Her situation was brought to the attention of Jamaica’s consul general in New York, Alsion Wilson, who immediately set about seeking help for her.
Through the efforts of Consul General Wilson, arrangements were made with Harlem Hospital for Anderson to be treated there.
Harlem Hospital was able to arrange emergency MEDICAID Insurance and New York City Insurance to cover her stay at the hospital, but these insurances do not cover the cost for the liver transplant.
“Harlem Hospital told me that they were trying, but there is nothing they can do to get the insurance to cover the costs of the transplant operation,” Donald told The Gleaner.
She said further that the doctors have advised that Anderson’s condition had worsened and she could die at any time.
“I do not want my daughter to die in the United States and I have to face the costs of returning her body to Jamaica so I have asked Ms McBean (Arleen) at the Federation to speed up our tickets so that we can return to Jamaica as soon as possible,” said Donald.
She said that she is anxious to return to Jamaica.
She also said that she is not giving up hope and continues to pray that things will work out and her daughter will be al right.
It is her view that if the Federation had made the necessary preparations for her daughter, who served the force for five years, she would have received the treatment necessary for survival.
“Only Ms McBean from the Federation has reached out to see how Donique is doing. No one else from the Federation has been in contact,” she said.
National Security minister Dr Horace Chang, when first contacted about the plight of Anderson, told The Gleaner that he was aware that she was in Falmouth hospital, but was unaware that she had travelled to the United States for treatment.
Chang said that he would reach out to the Jamaica Police Federation on the matter and promised to share with The Gleaner whatever information he got.
Since that initial comment The Gleaner has not heard anything further from Minister Chang.
Donald expressed her thanks to members of the diaspora for their assistance to her daughter.
Speaking specifically about the assistance by the consul general, Donald said that she deserved special praise for what she was able to do for her daughter on short notice.
“Had it not been for the consul general my daughter would not have gotten the treatment at Harlem Hospital that she received,” she said.
Anderson joined the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in 2017 and finished head of her class. Despite her illness, she served first in Four Paths and later in other parts of Clarendon.