The 12-year-old girl stricken in a fatal bus crash four months ago remains in hospital though personal home care has now been recommended for her.
Kaci Ferguson is still comatose and is unlikely to regain normal brain function. She is still unresponsive in the St Ann’s Bay Hospital where family members say she is the recipient of the best care and compassion available.
Reports had been circulating that Kaci was discharged from the hospital about two weeks ago but had not been taken away by her family. Mention was also made of monetary donations to an account, in order to fund treatment overseas. However, no formal arrangement for this travel has been made.
Reports to the North Coast Times are that members of the girl’s family have been meeting with the Child Development Agency (CDA), the chief medical officer, as well as social workers, in relation to the long term care of the girl.
OPTIONS FOR CARE
It is understood that several options have been explored including putting Kaci in a nursing home or having a dedicated home care nurse at her home or wherever she is taken.
The hospital has taken the necessary measure to provide a bed and a mattress for Kaci at her home in Seville Heights near St.Ann’s Bay, in order to cater for her special needs. Until a decision is made regarding her discharge she is still being cared for at the hospital.
Since her last medical review at the University Hospital of the West Indies, on August 25, it was reported that the swelling of her brain has been reduced. A date has not yet been scheduled for surgery to replace the pieces of her skull which were surgically removed to accommodate swelling of her brain early last month.
Kaci, a student at Lime Tree Gardens Primary School, near Brown’s Town was injured when the bus in which she was travelling to school on Friday morning, May 27, crashed and overturned. Five people were killed.
The bus was not insured and as a result there is no insurance claim that the family can make. Her father and an aunt have been facing the brunt of the charges for her care.
People have been responding to requests by Kaci’s mother, Karen Dawkins-Ferguson, for assistance. However, The Times has been unable to find out the status of the assistance being received and also the amount contributed to an account that this newspaper also advertised on behalf of the mother. The North Coast Times has made several calls and sent text messages to Mrs Dawkins-Ferguson. However, we have had no response about the assistance sent for the girl or when she will be taken from the hospital’s care.
