The Julian family was in grief as their 1-year-old daughter, Jonalyn, dies.
On February 25, 2021, the child was vomiting and had a fever as well. The situation means that immediate health care response is needed as the child might suffer from dehydration or other complications.
Without any hesitation, her parents called for an ambulance and searched for a hospital that’ll accept their child and offer proper hospital care.
However, as the hospital beds were full and possible mandatory RT-PCR protocol has to be followed, the child had to stay inside the ambulance.
Unfortunately, the ambulance did not have the proper equipment that may alleviate Jonalyn’s condition, and her parents had to pump their child’s oxygen.
“Isang oras kami sa labas, para kaming… ‘Yung palaboy ba na kami pa yung nagpupump sa loob ng ambulansya ng anak namin para lang mabuhay. Pero dinadaan-daanan lang po nila kami tapos sasabihin wala raw bakante,” pahayag ng ama ni Jonalyn habang naiiyak.
“We waited outside for an hour. It felt like we were treated like homeless people; we were the ones pumping the oxygen for (Jonalyn) inside the ambulance for her to survive. But people were only passing by us and telling us there’s no vacant room,” Jonalyn’s father shared while crying.
It took them approximately three hours before the hospital finally informed them that they’d decline to admit the child.
Time was ticking, and as Jonalyn waited, she lost her precious life.
The child was a COVID-19 suspect. Thus, she was cremated immediately as per protocol. It took a month before her family found out she died due to sepsis and not because of COVID. Her RT-PCR was negative.
