This makes me so mad.  Rest Pain-free Mr. Evan Smith, Your death will not be in vain, you will save many warriors, I promise.

Shame on you North Middlesex Hospital. All their excuses don’t matter. This young man lost his life due to poor medical care. Obvious gross negligence. He went to the hospital in a full pain crisis and was basically ignored until he died from cerebral edema (brain swelling due to low blood).

He did everything right, tried to get help many times. He even had to call 999(911) from the hospital, to ask the paramedics for oxygen. Smith still did not receive quality care.

He was in an overflow bed, didn’t even have a call bell, water, or pain management. The Hematology team was not paged to the ED, his chart was r even flagged as a priority…so he didn’t get the oxygen or much-needed blood transfusion. He fought valiantly for his life, but the hospital ignored him. Mr. Smith died hours later.

Looks like the family is taking action. I hope they request system wide changes for the hospital system as part of their huge financial settlement so this doesn’t happen again. And folks need to be fired, this case is a blatant example of how we are mistreated in the medical setting.

I’m Outraged. This should not be happening in 2020, but sadly, sickle cell warriors know that at times, our life is at greater risk IN the hospital than out. This is why many choose to battle their crisis at home.

We’ve lost too many to negligent circumstances like this. This is a systemic global issue that all sickle cell warriors face when trying to seek medical care. The color of your skin should not preclude you from quality medical care.

This is why we are growing our partnerships, and creating a coalition to raise the platform for Black Health Matters!

If you can help in any way, join us. Send an email to us to see how.