MONTEGO BAY, St James — Almost two months after sustaining a broken hip and right femur bone, Montego Bay’s “hero” Lloyd Nelson is still lying at the Falmouth General Public Hospital awaiting a date for surgery.

Nelson, who utilised the Jamaica Observer to appeal for the assistance of Good Samaritans earlier in June, reported that he experienced a mishap and was flung from his motorcycle while travelling home in St James. He has since been admitted and stated that he was told that emergency surgery was needed.

However, he is yet to receive that medical attention, as an issue with the air-conditioning units at the facility has caused a delay in surgeries.

Nelson told the Sunday Observer that he has grown frustrated with the delays and now believes that the needs of the people waiting for surgery are being ignored by the administrators.

“I need hip surgery and it has been put off about four times for whatever reason. They claim to say it is an AC problem, but I think it is otherwise. I think it is deeper than that. I have the pins to put in after the surgery, but now I cannot get any surgery,” he bemoaned.

“I am still lying down and can’t move because I cannot walk, so I have been lying in this bed since June after the accident. They said that I should get a pin, I have gotten a pin with some help,” Nelson added.

Though he is admitted to a ward at Falmouth General Public Hospital, Nelson is technically a patient at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), but the hospital’s orthopaedic surgeries are done offsite while the Type-A facility is under renovation.

Peeved by the news of his surgery being rescheduled, Nelson told the Sunday Observer that other patients have been complaining that they believe the move is to frustrate them into seeking help from private institutions.

“I have met people who have been here for four months waiting on surgeries. I don’t know if it is true, but I heard that they try to keep you as long as possible so you get fed up to the point where you try to get private surgery done and that costs a whole lot of money,” said Nelson.

He continued, “I got to understand that when you go to do private surgery the same doctor dem do the surgery but they are not doing it on this compound. And that is not fair. I hear that the less fortunate die at the hospital because they don’t have any insurance or money, and I think it is true.”

Nelson also told the Sunday Observer that he feels ignored during his time of need. He shared that he has tried to make contact with Government officials since his accident; however, “these attempts have been futile.

“I have been trying to reach out to the Government for help and all now I cannot get any help. I don’t know who is important, is it a dead hero or a live hero? And if you are going to give me a Medal of Honour for being a hero and I am asking for this little help, why is it so hard to give it to me?”, he questioned.

Nelson received the Badge of Honour for Gallantry at the National Honours and Awards Ceremony at King’s House in St Andrew in 2018, for his role in saving the lives of two women and four children, including a four-month-old baby, during flooding in Montego Bay.

When the Sunday Observer contacted CRH’s Senior Medical Officer Dr Derek Harvey, he confirmed that the facility has been experiencing some issues with its air-conditioning units for approximately a month.

According to Dr Harvey, the issue was addressed. However, another challenge developed afterwards.

“The AC has been on and off. We have been going through a period of maintenance and repair, which has been going on for the last three to four weeks because it was giving some issues before. Now when the AC went down, it would mean that we curtailed quite a bit of our elective surgeries and only do emergency surgeries,” Dr Harvey explained.

“The AC was reportedly fixed last week, but then there was an issue with the temperature not being cool enough for our clinical services,” the senior medical officer added.

Dr Harvey stated that elective and emergency surgeries would be addressed quickly.

“This week started with elective surgeries but the temperature was not cooling down…that was about two or three days ago. That has been looked at and addressed, I think we are in the process of seeing if we can have the two theatres up and running hopefully by tomorrow or the latest next week,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“I hope that it is now rectified. It is cooling. We are now going through the cleaning process and we are hoping that we can address our backups,” he added.