The mother of Rayden Davis, who died on 18 January after a long struggle with medical issues, said medical personnel at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital wanted to do chemotherapy on her 3-year-old son in the absence of a cancer diagnosis.
Nadine Davis said in a tell-all interview on Hot 97 that the medical professionals told her that while they were not sure if her child had the HLA, they still wanted to proceed with the chemotherapy.
HLA is a type of molecule found on the surface of most cells in the body. HLAs play an important part in the body’s immune response to foreign substances. They make up a person’s tissue type, which varies from person to person.
“They said they want to start him on chemotherapy, but then they’re not 100% sure if he has the HLA.” So in my mind, I said, “So why do you want to start chemotherapy if you’re not 100% sure that’s what he has?” They said we should try a small dose to see if it works and if he could return. “Maybe it would help, or maybe it wouldn’t help.” That’s what they told me.
“Every two days the child was doing blood tests; so much blood was drained from him that they had to give him blood transfusions every two days.” It got so overbearing, I had to tell them, “No, you have to rest that child.”
Child is left to bleed
“At one point in time, they drew blood from the child and left him there, and when one of the nurses went in, he was there bleeding; after that, he went down the hill.” I’m saying if it’s been a month or two, just say we’re not sure what’s going on and send him somewhere you can get a diagnosis”.
Davis said the night before Rayden died, they asked his father for permission to do some tests and said it was going to take 4 to 6 weeks; the test included one for lupus.
“The night he died, the doctor came in and said one of the tests had come back; the test that was supposed to take 4 to 6 weeks took a few hours this time. They said it came back negative, the lupus test, but they told me it was going to take 4 to 6 weeks”.
Government response summary
The St. Vincent government, in a release, said Rayden Davis was first presented to the medical team at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) in June 2022. Sadly, it was discovered that he had been born with a weak immune system (congenital immunodeficiency). This condition was further complicated by other disorders that remained undiagnosed up to the time of his passing on January 18, 2023.
The release stated that extensive tests utilizing the services of local and overseas laboratories and a full series of consultations between MCMH medical personnel and specialist pediatricians in the Caribbean and North America did not yield a definitive diagnosis. This uncertainty impeded overseas referrals and care.
