Man to take legal action following death of fiancée at Addington Hospital
A Durban man is demanding answers and accountability after his fiancée passed away at a Durban hospital.
Blessing Ntombela alleges 27-year-old Amanda Alexander was neglected by Addington Hospital's staff and not given her chronic medication.
He believes this led to her death.
Alexander was admitted to the hospital on 1 December after falling ill and not being able to eat.
Ntombela says while doctors suspected she may have had Covid-19, the family believed it was a Lupus flare-up.
They say Alexander was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease when she was 15.
Ntombela says Alexander's mother had left her chronic medication with the nurses and told them it needed to be taken daily.
"She was peeing herself on the bed and they weren't changing the sheets. They weren't giving her food, they weren't trying to feed her because she was extremely weak all that was done by my mother-in-law, she came and she took care of Amanda.
"On Saturday afternoon, when my mother-in-law went to visit Amanda, she found that Amanda was in a critical state. She had sores in her mouth.
"The doctors, nurses and the sisters didn't even know that Amanda had sores in her mouth, proving that she wasn't receiving her medication for three days from the day she was admitted."
Ntombela says they pleaded with management of the facility to get Alexander moved to Chief Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital, where she had been treated for Lupus before, but they refused.
He says they were told at around 8pm on Saturday 4 December that she had died.
"How devastated, how heartbroken we were because we fought with the hospital - no one saw to my fiancée. No doctors were present.
"They didn't even know what was wrong with her, they didn't even know she had lupus, they didn't even know what medication she was taking - proving that they didn't even read her file.
"We are heartbroken because she was doing pretty well because we were doing family planning with Albert Luthuli. Luthuli confirmed that her health is in good condition and we have a window to start a family.
"Being neglected at Addington Hospital from the first until the fourth robbed me of a chance of having a family with a person that I love."
Ntombela says the family are now looking at taking legal action against the KZN Health Department and possibly suing them for medical negligence.
KZN Health HOD, Sandile Tshabalala says an investigation has been launched and that they are awaiting a comprehensive report from the hospital.
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