Death of Baby at Honolulu airport
I don't keep up with the news at all well these days, but normaltrouble pointed me to the story of the very young baby who died in Customs, in a warm room, when he should have been on his way to the hospital for a possible heart implant. There were, "irregularities in the mother's paperwork," apparently. It's so shocking in some ways it's hard to know how to react, but I posted the following on another site and thought I'd post it here too:
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I'm so shocked and appalled I don't really know what to say. No matter what reason Customs had for detaining the baby and his mother, they should have been rushed to the hospital where the baby was to be examined for a possible implant, and then they could have checked paperwork to their hearts' content. How does a human being not see that a child's life is so much higher a priority than paperwork that they exist in different dimensions? Did anyone in Customs call the hospital? Clearly not, or they would have been told that the baby needed to be transported there by ambulance immediately. I can't SEE how this can happen. And to think these people are a first line in maintaining our nation's so-called Homeland Security . . .
I can't imagine how parents must feel at the unnecessary death of a child--of course there were medical risks, but paperwork risks! I can only feel what must be a fraction of their grief, helplessness, anger, and loss. Maybe winning a lawsuit will help alleviate some of the anger and helplessness, but this grief must tear at them more than the possible loss of the baby in surgery when they knew they'd tried everything possible. My heart goes out to the parents and the baby's siblings. Can you imagine trying to explain why this happened to the baby's teenage brother and sister and what do you say to the baby's 3-yr old brother? Baby Michael is now free from the stupidity of this world; his parents and siblings have a long road ahead of them, and all I can wish them is some growing moments of peace as time passes.
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I'm so shocked and appalled I don't really know what to say. No matter what reason Customs had for detaining the baby and his mother, they should have been rushed to the hospital where the baby was to be examined for a possible implant, and then they could have checked paperwork to their hearts' content. How does a human being not see that a child's life is so much higher a priority than paperwork that they exist in different dimensions? Did anyone in Customs call the hospital? Clearly not, or they would have been told that the baby needed to be transported there by ambulance immediately. I can't SEE how this can happen. And to think these people are a first line in maintaining our nation's so-called Homeland Security . . .
I can't imagine how parents must feel at the unnecessary death of a child--of course there were medical risks, but paperwork risks! I can only feel what must be a fraction of their grief, helplessness, anger, and loss. Maybe winning a lawsuit will help alleviate some of the anger and helplessness, but this grief must tear at them more than the possible loss of the baby in surgery when they knew they'd tried everything possible. My heart goes out to the parents and the baby's siblings. Can you imagine trying to explain why this happened to the baby's teenage brother and sister and what do you say to the baby's 3-yr old brother? Baby Michael is now free from the stupidity of this world; his parents and siblings have a long road ahead of them, and all I can wish them is some growing moments of peace as time passes.