Eight-year-old Tara Dennis (right), has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and needs help with a neurological x-ray to determine whether her illness was caused by a hospital's negligence. Her mother, Marlene Lawrence, is at left. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Tara Dennis has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy but, until early last month, her doctors were sketchy with details and would only tell her mother that she was brain damaged.
Tara, who cannot speak, sit up or walk, has been on no medication and her mother, Marlene Lawrence, cannot afford the CAT (Computerised Axial Tomography) Scan needed to prove whether a nurse at one of Kingston's public hospitals where Tara was born, was responsible for her injuries.
Mrs. Lawrence, a 28-year-old housekeeper, exhausted her last source for help last Wednesday when, after visiting with Public Defender, Howard Hamilton, she was told that he could not help as he could not prove liability.
Tara, who is stick thin and weighs 30 pounds, was born in Kingston in September 1994. Her mother says that she was born while she (mother) was lying on a bed unassisted by a nurse who told her even when the baby was born, that she was not ready to give birth. She said that she was left unattended for over half-an hour after the baby was born.
SILENCE AFTER BIRTH
Mrs. Lawrence said she noticed that the baby did not cry after being slapped but she was told that the child was having seizures. Later, a doctor showed some concern, after which the baby was transferred and spent a month at another hospital.
Years of searching and consultations finally led her to an explanation in April, when a medical doctor, Paul Skyers, in their hometown at Stony Hill, diagnosed that child as having cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy can be genetic or can be caused by trauma at birth. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in every 300 births will develop or have cerebral palsy. It is caused by irreversible brain lesions occurring before, during or shortly after birth. The child has difficulty in both moving and staying still. The condition disables children, as the small part of the brain that controls movement is damaged. Although there is no cure, the effects can be reduced.
CAT SCAN TO DETERMINE PROBLEM
Dr. Skyers told The Gleaner that only the CAT scan done by a neurologist could determine whether it was a normal brain that was damaged, or whether the problem was genetic.
The CAT scan is, however, very expensive and Mrs. Lawrence, who has another child, has no money to see a neurologist or a lawyer.
She is also reluctant to put her daughter in a home, as the child is very attached to her. Dr. Skyers says that Tara will require 24-hour nursing care for the rest of her life and will encounter numerous problems.
Mrs. Lawrence insists that the state was at fault and wants to prove this.
