Mom seeks redress after 9-y-o daughter is blinded at school
Dissatisfied with action from education ministry, public defender turns matter over to lawyers
Published:Sunday | March 24, 2024 | 12:09 AMLivern Barrett - Senior Staff Reporter
Gwendoline Martinez* was at work when she got the telephone call every parent dreads.
Her nine-year-old daughter, Chyelle Hernandez*, had lost sight in her right eye after an incident involving another student at Goshen Primary School in St Mary, the person on the other end of the call reported.
Even more distressing was that the telephone call, which came in shortly after 4 p.m. on April 8, 2022, was from a relative after her daughter returned home crying, and not from school administrators, the woman complained during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last week.
When Martinez questioned school administrators about their handling of the incident and why was she not immediately contacted after the incident, she said the response left her stunned.
“Yes, the incident took place, but I did not remember to call you,” Martinez claimed her daughter’s second-grade teacher responded when she called her.
“They were rendering first aid (washing out the eye with water) so how is it that they did not remember to call me,” she questioned during The Sunday Gleaner interview.
The mother has requested that The Sunday Gleaner not publish their real names to protect their privacy.
The next school day – Monday April 11, 2022 – Martinez said she visited Goshen Primary to seek answers from Principal Wenworth Henry.
“He asked me if I am going to sit there and allow my child to go blind or am I going to take her to the doctor and take care of it because they can’t help,” the single mother claimed.
Preliminary tests that were conducted by an ophthalmologist a day after the incident revealed that “the posterior segment of the eye was obscured and I suspect this was the result of a vitreous haemorrhage (bleeding in the back of the eye),” according to a medical report seen by The Sunday Gleaner.
The latest medical report confirmed that the retina in Chyelle’s right eye is detached and that she can only see colours, a development that has now placed a strain on the left eye, Martinez disclosed.
“They were negligent, especially at the school level, and they tried to hide information from me. If I hadn’t heard from my relative that evening, it would have been swept under the carpet,” she charged.
‘IT WAS AN ACCIDENT’
The Ministry of Education’s Region Two office confirmed last Wednesday to The Sunday Gleaner that it received a report on the incident from both the school and the child’s parent, but did not indicate when the reports were submitted.
The Region Two office covers St Mary, Portland and St Thomas.
“The region has compiled a file on it and sent it to the legal services unit of the ministry, which is where we normally send anything that has to do with a claim,” a spokesperson told The Sunday Gleaner about the 2022 incident.
The principal of Goshen Primary initially declined to comment when the claims made by Martinez were put to him by The Sunday Gleaner during a telephone interview on Wednesday.
However, when pressed he stated that, “I am not authorised to speak to you on the matter because it is with the legal affairs [unit] of the Ministry of Education.”
Henry confirmed that an investigation was conducted into the incident that caused Chyelle to lose sight in her eye, but said he was not authorised to disclose the findings.
“They were two friends and it was an accident. One child was trying to hug the other and her hand caught her in the eye,” he disclosed, when pressed on whether the investigation recommended any disciplinary action.
“It was not like it was spitefully done. So there could not be any action that could be taken against anyone.”
NOW A LEGAL MATTER
Martinez detailed the “runaround” she has endured while being forced to spend thousands of dollars on medical care for her daughter for the past two years.
“When I went to the ministry [of education] downtown, they told me I should go and pay for the surgery and then bring back a receipt and, if anything, I would be refunded,” she recounted.
“Nobody seemed to care and I have been doing this alone since 2022. I have another appointment for her next week.”
Amid accusations that the education ministry has been dragging its feet with the case, the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) confirmed to The Sunday Gleaner on Friday that it has already instructed a private law firm to file a lawsuit against the State.
The OPD said it wrote to the ministry after Martinez lodged a complaint about the incident.
According to the OPD, the education ministry responded saying that an investigation was being conducted to assess whether it was “liable” and, if warranted, the matter would be referred to the Attorney General’s Department.
“After a protracted period of waiting, the OPD wrote back to the ministry. With nothing forthcoming, the OPD referred out the matter to [private] lawyers for legal proceedings to be instituted against the ministry,” the OPD said in response to questions submitted by The Sunday Gleaner.
“So the matter is now with legal counsel.”