In Magnitogorsk, 89-year-old senior citizen Andrey Bonko waited over a day for being admitted to the hospital due to an incorrect diagnosis and, as relatives believe, the carelessness of doctors at two hospitals.
After various conflicts and enduring long waits, the man finally underwent surgery. However, Andrei Bonko passed away on February 11. The family of the senior citizen plans to appeal to the prosecutor’s office. The regional health ministry stated that they are looking into the incident.
As Andrey, the grandson of the deceased man, shared on social media, on February 7, his grandfather was taken to the city hospital No. 1 of Magnitogorsk by ambulance, experiencing severe abdominal pain. There, he was tested, a metal catheter was inserted, he was given an analgin injection, was prescribed medication, and then sent home. However, the next day, the senior citizen's condition worsened.
“When I went to see him in the morning, I found him in a terrible state,” Andrei said. “I can’t imagine how he survived the night of February 7-8, he was suffering from pain and immediately asked for an ambulance, swearing that neither the pills nor the injection, and especially the catheter, were effective and didn't help.”
By then, according to relatives, the grandfather could barely speak. The family called for an ambulance again, and the man was taken to the same hospital. Another urologist there suggested that the catheter was unnecessary and the elderly person might need surgery. However, the consulting surgeon Sergei Goryachikh found no issues and concluded that surgery was not necessary. The patient was only given a painkilling injection and once again attempted to be discharged.
“When my grandfather was escorted out of the office by my mother to the emergency room, where I was waiting with our belongings, I was horrified. Grandfather was placed on a couch, and he immediately, writhing in pain, collapsed on the radiator behind him,” Andrei said.
The grandson of the senior citizen points out that some hospital staff members acted unprofessionally. “I want to clarify immediately that I am not trying to exaggerate the events, and I am writing calmly to convey the essence,” Andrei explained. According to him, one of the nurses could not locate the manager or answer his questions, and the surgeon “irritably remarked that there were places to put them, but he did not find any reason for this.”
The family was instructed to go to city hospital No. 3. On the way, the relatives contacted the insurance company, where they were informed that medical facilities are required to admit all individuals with severe pain.
Nevertheless, at another hospital, the exhausted man was still not admitted. According to Andrei, the attending paramedic, Irina Post, was very displeased with the patient who had arrived.
“Why did you bring him here? What does it matter to me that you were sent here? Whether vaccinated or not, I sent those who were just vaccinated to the red zone,” the doctor greeted the family with these words. At the same time, the senior citizen showed no signs of the illness.
The family insisted on the grandfather being hospitalized, and the surgeon examined him. The grandfather urgently needed an operation because of a blood clot or a tumor-related obstruction in his intestines. The paramedic Post processed the patient, who was not in a hurry and was talking on the phone.
I was filled with anger and rage. Her reason for not registering her grandfather was: “I’m hungry and I’m going to eat, and I won’t register anyone now.” I swear I sign my every word and do not write anonymously. I had to intervene in the lawlessness of this paramedic, being far from medicine and oaths, I could not believe anyway how this person could even be in this institution. The surgeon tried to calm her down, while she, literally bulging her eyes, screamed at me how harmful she could be, in a very, to put it mildly, impudent manner,” said Andrei.
The paramedic did a rapid coronavirus test on the man and happily announced that there would be no operation, and the family needed to return to the red zone. The surgeon gave the family recommendations, conclusions, and pictures for the man to be operated on as soon as possible.
The family waited for the man to undergo a CT scan at the first city hospital, then the grandson and daughter were informed that the patient’s lungs were clean and that he would soon have an emergency operation.
On February 8, the man was finally hospitalized. He died on February 11.
The relatives tried to get information about the patient’s condition. Information was very fragmentary. Andrey even had to request help from Magnitogorsk residents to get information about his grandfather's condition.
The insurance company said they did not carry out the operation because the CT showed a 25% lung lesion. On the morning of February 9, the neurological department clarified that the man was in intensive care. The next day, the family learned that the patient was on a ventilator “in a state incompatible with life.”
The same surgeon who had previously refused to hospitalize the man ended up operating on him. He did not notice anything in the pictures and in the patient’s condition that required immediate surgical intervention.
Andrei Bonko, according to his grandson, was born in 1933. At the age of 10, his native village in Belarus was captured by German invaders. A great aunt saved the boy and other children at the cost of her own life, and he managed to see enough of the horrors of the war. After school, Andrei Bonko entered a military school, then went into aviation. After graduating from the service, he got a job on the railway, where he worked until retirement.
My grandfather was very healthy and active, even at the age of 89. He is stubborn and sticks to his habits and rules. He doesn't use cell phones and prefers old-fashioned things. He has five great-grandchildren who often visited him, and he always gave them advice and gifts. He recently turned 89, and despite vaccinations and preventive measures, he wouldn't allow anyone to come and congratulate him. He accepted all congratulations, even from all great-grandchildren.
Now the relatives of the deceased man are going to appeal to the prosecutor’s office and seek justice in court. They believe that the pensioner could, if not be saved, then at least not be forced to endure unbearable pain for a whole day and suffer from waiting in hospital waiting rooms.
