Liberia: Man Commits Suicide at JFK Hospital; Family Member Attributes Action to Abandonment, Hospital Launches Investigation
Monrovia – The John F. Kennedy Medical Center has confirmed a suicide incident involving a patient that was admitted to the hospital but was on the verge of being discharged.
The patient, Dennis Koon, 43, jumped through his window on the third floor of the hospital building. According to social media reports, he was escaping his accumulated bill at the hospital.
The Chief Medical Officer of JFK, Dr. Jerry Brown told journalists on Monday that the deceased had jumped from the 3rd floor bathroom after he has left the hospital ward hosting him.
Dr. Jerry disclosed that an investigation is still ongoing to ascertain why he committed suicide.
He said police authorities are collaborating with the JFK Medical Hospital in the said investigation.
According to Dr. Brown, before the incident, Koon’s remaining bill was cleared by Social Service, he was counseled and declared medically fit for discharge on June 30 following 27 days of admission.
“The social service department determined that the patient required administrative intervention for discharge and therefore refereed his chat for release. He was informed this morning about his release to go home during the day,” Dr. Brown said.
Dr. Brown clarified that a preliminary inquiry conducted by the hospital indicated that the late Koon informed his roommates that he was going for a brief walk and needed to use the bathroom.
Surprisingly, according to him, students from the Tubman Institute of Medical Arts, few minutes alerted trauma nurses that a patient had jumped from the 3rd floor and collided with the concrete below, sustaining major injuries including massive head trauma.
Dr. Brown said immediately after the alert was made, the victim was rushed to the Trauma Unit by nurses and was declared dead, less than 19 minutes later, despite resuscitation efforts by physicians.
He said the matter is currently being investigated by the Liberia National Police and all other relevant authorities.
“Out heartfelt condolences and sympathy goes out to the bereaved family, and we assure them of all efforts to understand the circumstances that led to this tragic end,” Dr. Brown noted.
Brown at the same time Maintained that Madam Theresa Nimely, a relative to the deceased was informed that he was to be released on Monday, August 1, on grounds that she was the contact person on his hospital chat.
Madam Nimely speaking with reporters at the JFK Hospital noted that the late Dennis Koon is her uncle and that the victim has been undergoing trauma, due to abandonment from family and friends.
Madam Nimely said the late Kon since his illness had complained that some family members and close friends whom he has helped had refused to come to his aid, for which he was disappointed.
“The problem is when you take care of people around and something happens to you and they put you aside, it will create frustration for you and that’s what happened to him,” she said locally.
Despite lamenting that she along with the victim’s wife had managed to pay off a huge portion of the medical bill, it was equally frustrating that Senator James Baney, of Maryland County, a long-time friend to the late Koon, promised to help him, but did not do so, after several visits to him.
Madam Nimely lamented that this, coupled with other factors leading to traumatic brain injury might have resulted in his action.
She then welcomes JFK Management’s latest decision to investigate the matter to its conclusion.