PAIN PROLONGED

A bitter custody battle and an ambiguous case involving the Administrator General’s Department (AGD) are at the centre of a wound the family of Jodian Fearon is desperately trying to close, five years after her tragic death.

Fearon, 23, died in the intensive care unit of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), after giving birth to her daughter Peyton-Grace at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine.

The young mother, who was suspected to have contracted COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic in April 2020, was reportedly denied treatment at Andrews Memorial Hospital (AMH), where she was registered to deliver her baby.

The private hospital said it was not equipped to treat Fearon for the infectious virus, which tests later revealed she did not have. She was asthmatic and exhibiting symptoms of fever and coughing at the time.

“It has been five difficult years. We are only learning to cope. As it relates to justice for Jodian, nothing has changed,” Fearon’s mother, Portia Haughton, told The Sunday Gleaner as her death anniversary approaches.

Fearon died on April 24, 2020. Her cause of death was later revealed to be atrial septal defect – sometimes called a hole in the heart. It is a type of congenital heart defect in which there is an abnormal opening in the dividing wall between the upper filling chambers of the heart (the atria).

Haughton said a case related to her daughter’s death remains open at the AGD, but admitted that she is in the dark about its status.

Further, she said her efforts to get information have been futile, noting that there has been radio silence on the matter.

“We’re just in the dark,” Haughton said, disclosing that attorney-at-law Isat Buchanan, who was retained by the family to represent Fearon’s estate, was “removed” from the matter, which the AGD took over.

“Everything has just been one grand silence. I feel violated and disrespected. Sometimes it feels like I’m in a bizarre space, where nothing seems to make sense. It didn’t make sense how she died, and now, it has gotten worse. There is no information to at least bring us some closure. All she wanted to do was have her baby and to just be flung around like that between Kingston and St Catherine while multiple hospitals rejected her. It’s quite bizarre,” said Haughton.

ALLEGED NEGLIGENCE

Buchanan maintained when contacted by The Sunday Gleaner that Fearon’s death was as a result of “medical negligence”.

He explained that because a child is involved, the administrator general has full control over any benefit that would come from a civil suit filed for negligence. He further noted that the child – whose custody is currently being contested by Haughton and the child’s father, Kenton Senior – would be the main beneficiary of any successful legal outcome.

“How the law works is that when there is a minor, the administrator general has a duty to ensure that the interests of the child is protected in terms of distribution of the estate of Jodian Fearon,” Buchanan said.

He explained that because of this, the AGD opted to use another attorney. He said three years have passed since the department took the case.

The administrator general is responsible for filing the claim against the hospital and the Government, Buchanan said, calling the situation “peculiar”.

He maintained his criticism of Jamaica’s health sector, calling for greater focus on reducing the infant and maternal mortality rates.

“We simply need to improve our health system because there was a time when children were born at home, midwives were available and children weren’t dying at the rate that it’s happening now. I’m sad to say five years later, young mothers still die under circumstances that, I maintain, are negligence as well,” he said.

Jamaica’s infant mortality rate in 2024 was 10.4 deaths per 1,000 live births. The global rate for 2024 was projected to be 26.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. According to United Nations data, an estimated 4.8 million children died before the age of five, including 2.3 million newborns in 2023.

The World Health Organization puts the global maternal mortality rate at an estimated 197 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023. In Jamaica, it is estimated to be 156.7 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Fearon arrived at AMH on April 23 and was being prepared for delivery.

Staff reportedly refused to treat her because she was suspected to have the novel virus that had by that time killed nearly 200,000 people globally. However, the hospital denied this.

Requests for Fearon to be transferred to the UHWI and Victoria Jubilee Hospital were said to have fallen through and the first-time mother was sent to Spanish Town Hospital to deliver.

She reportedly developed complications after delivering her baby and was transferred to the UHWI. She reportedly died on the floor of the hospital later that day.

NO CRIMINAL CHARGES

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) later ruled that there was no basis for criminal charges to be laid against anyone following an investigation into the death.

“It is clear from the material on file that the unease occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding Ms Fearon’s status may have contributed to what appears to be the uncoordinated, indecisive efforts and tardy response by the health institutions/medical personnel in Jamaica’s public health sector or from her personal physician.

“This state of affairs would have exacerbated and blurred the circumstances surrounding Ms Fearon’s untimely demise,” the ODPP said.

Still, Haughton said the family remains hopeful that they will get justice for the manner in which the younger of her two daughters died.

“But at the same time, my hands are being tied. I have to pick my battles because so much is going on. We’re trapped in a nasty custody battle, which is eating up all my finances as well as my emotions and mental state and my fortitude. I am telling you. Thanks be to prayers. There are so many layers to Jodian’s death. It is crazy what we go through day by day. People don’t even know the level of trauma this has inflicted on the family,” said Haughton.

She said her surviving daughter, Shanice Lloyd, has had a difficult time navigating the years after her sister’s death, even as she cares for her niece, who reportedly calls her mommy. Haughton lives in the United States and jointly supports Peyton-Grace with Lloyd.

BOOK SURPRISE

Haughton said except for the matter being handled by the AGD, the family has had no communication with anyone from the Ministry of Health and Wellness or the Government.

However, she said to her surprise, she learnt that a chapter had been written about her daughter’s death in a book titled Wild Flavours, which was written by Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton.

Haughton said she felt uneasy when she was told about the six-page chapter titled ‘Jodian’, and so she purchased a copy.

“I think the minister was more so taking his hands out the fire by expressing that he knew nothing about what was happening. Though he may have gotten a phone call, he thought it was just a regular phone call. It’s quite interesting. I think he was more so explaining his side of the story. I felt some type of way about it. I was shocked because I was saying, I have never met the minister before. We never spoke either,” Haughton said.

The Sunday Gleaner contacted Tufton, who said the book is a reflection on the events at the time and his sentiments.

He said the section highlighted the devastating consequences of the fear of the virus.

“Much of what I said, including my personal views, were expressed publicly before the book, including my regret at what happened. I am sorry it seems to be interpreted otherwise. But I understand the emotions involved in an issue such as this.

“The book sought to identify, from my perspective, the highs and lows of the COVID pandemic and, hopefully, lessons we should learn for the future. There were some uncomfortable truths, but I felt it important to reflect based on my vantage point at the time,” Tufton told The Sunday Gleaner.

The chapter, which was seen by The Sunday Gleaner, detailed Fearon’s cause of death and the events leading up to it, including when and how the minister became aware of the situation.

It ended by noting that Fearon should never have died.

“ … She should never have had to endure what she did in the twenty-four hours before she left us. It could have been avoided. I shudder at the terror she must have endured on that terrible day. Her death brought me to tears. It was the first and only time I broke down d uring the pandemic. For years to come, when we Jamaicans think about COVID-19 and how our lives changed and the upside down world we inhabited in 2020, we will also remember Jodian, in many ways a victim of the disease, even though she never actually had it,” an excerpt reads.

Still, Haughton said she was triggered by the chapter, noting that she plunged into a deeper state of frustration and anxiety. She said she felt blindsided at the mention of Fearon and the events before her death.

She believes that the family should have been briefed ahead of publication, insisting that an element of classism played a part in her daughter’s death and the treatment toward the family in the years after.

At the same time, she indicated that she will make it her mission to shield her granddaughter from the “trauma” the family has endured, though acknowledging that she will ultimately learn about her mother’s passing.

Cautioning that she could not speak much about the child because of the ongoing legal battle, she said Peyton-Grace, who will celebrate her fifth birthday just over a week from now, remains the source of her energy.

She described her as curious, smart, witty and spicy.

“She’s a little light in my heart and energy to my soul when I am down. She is really smart. I bragged about her abilities to read from she was three. She will find stuff with her mother, even though she calls Shan mommy, and sometimes says, ‘Mommy Jojo’. She’s just smart, just growing and healthy. She’s thriving and just doing good in school, but going through her little spicy phase. She’s four going on 40. She’s very witty,” Haughton said with a chuckle.

“I definitely see little Jodi in her. I say to myself sometimes, ‘You know, she has to be a strong person because she’s going to have a lot to deal with’,” she added.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com