Medical staff at the Pediatric Ward at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, yesterday came in for high praise from Annie Arietas for saving the life of her four-year-old daughter, Nicola Dyer, who was stung by a scorpion at her Maraval home on Tuesday.
Despite there being no antidote in the country, doctors battled for over 12 hours on Tuesday after she was brought in almost lifeless.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian yesterday at the hospital, Arietas said she would be forever thankful and grateful for the dedication of hospital staff but at the same time made a plea for the authorities to get equipped with antidote/anti-venom for future cases.
“I do not know if I did lose my child how I would have dealt with it but I thank the doctors and nurses for what they did and how they sacrificed to save my daughter,” Arietas said.
Yesterday morning, little Nicola was moved from the Intensive Care Unit to the Pediatric Medical 1 Unit, where she is said to be a little agitated but resting comfortably. She is expected to be discharged soon.
However, her mother has since vowed never to return to her Maraval home, well, at least not until little Nicola reaches 12 or 13 years.
“This was a very frightening experience for me. I am still shaking from Tuesday. When that happened to see that my child could not even get up to walk I had to keep telling myself hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” Arietas said.
Recalling the events leading up to the incident, Arietas said on Tuesday morning she decided to go to her home, which is in a bushy area in the hills off Morne Coco Road, as her temporary home in Belmont had a power outage. She said while little Nicola and her (Arietas’) two-year-old grandchild were playing on a mattress on the ground, her daughter just burst out crying.
“I kept asking her what was wrong, if she had hit her head but she kept on saying no, no. It was only then one of her big sisters decided to make up the bed when she saw a huge scorpion among the ruffled sheets,” Arietas said.
She said her daughter quickly captured the scorpion in a glass jar and rushed her to the Maraval Health Centre. However, with no ambulance available, one was called in. To beat the time, two security guards decided to take the child and the mother in a private vehicle where they met with an ambulance on the way. The child was then taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where she was given Piriton and Gravol.
“She was real vomiting and even before we left home she couldn’t even stand up on her own. She was almost lifeless,” Arietas said. After being stabilised, she was then transferred to Mt Hope. It was there doctors discovered that Nicola’s heart had already gotten infected.
“More than one doctor was called in and they really fight to save her life. If it wasn’t for them I would have surely lost my child,” Arietas said.
Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh, when contacted on the incident told CNC3 scorpion anti-venom was not available in T&T as yet. However, he did not say when it would become available. He also clarified that anti-venom has to be very specific, “because what can be used for a snake bite cannot be used for a scorpion sting.”