Third cancer patient dies at GPHC

Six-year-old Sharezer Mendonca of Queenstown Essequibo Coast died this morning after days on life support at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Mendonca is the third child to have died at the public hospital after she was given an injection before her chemotherapy treatment for Leukemia – a form of cancer.

News Room had spoken with the aunt of Mendonca, Azeena Bakraj Monday; she said that on December 8, Mendonca’s family noticed she had a fever and some bumps on her neck.

She was taken to the Suddie Hospital and was later transferred to the Georgetown Hospital. It was there that the child was diagnosed with Leukemia.

On January 3, Mendonca was given a dose of the drug.

Bakraj said hours after receiving the medication, her niece started to experience strange symptoms and cried out for pain in her legs and arms.

She was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where she remained on life support until her death Thursday morning.

Seven-year-old Corwin Edwards was the first child to have died on January 14; he too suffered from Leukemia and received the same medication.

The second child to have died was three-year-old Roshini Seegobin of Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

She was cremated Tuesday at the Good Hope crematorium, ECD following a funeral service.

Seegobin, who also suffered from Leukemia, died on January 18 at the Georgetown Public Hospital – some 15 days after she was administered the same injection.

The GPHC has since recalled the medication until an investigation is complete.