The family of a 62-year-old quadriplegic woman who died after being left for hours in Nicosia General Hospital’s emergency department has accused authorities of fatal negligence. Her brother, Christakis Kyriakou, says she waited far longer than the reported eight hours before being admitted.
“She was admitted at 8:25 with a fever, probably from a urinary infection, but they put her in a waiting room and told us to wait for the pulmonologist,” he said. “She kept waiting and no one came. Only after I made a scene, filmed video, threatened to go to the media — then someone came. After eight hours, in the afternoon, a trainee finally saw her, barely looked at her, and said ‘ok’ for admission. She wasn’t even examined.”
“She was already gone”
Kyriakou claims the admission did not actually happen until the next afternoon. “She stayed another whole day there, it wasn’t just eight hours. When she was admitted, she was in a coma. She was already gone,” he said.
Placed in a ward, her condition worsened. “Her pulse was 137, she was barely breathing, her eyes were dead,” he recalled. “When I shouted, they told me I wasn’t allowed there, to come back during visiting hours.”
Later, he was told by phone that she had suffered a cardiac arrest but had been revived. “By the time resuscitation worked, she had been 20 minutes without oxygen. Her brain and organs were damaged. They told me if she survived, she would be a vegetable- but most likely she would die. All we could do was wait for her to fade away.”
Plans for legal action
The brother says he recorded videos throughout the ordeal to document the delays. “I have everything recorded. They can’t deny it now. After the funeral on Saturday we will go to the police. Where else? The health authority? The presidency? They are already covering themselves with lies and vague excuses.”
Kyriakou insists the family is not seeking compensation. “I don’t want money or anything. I will do this for the next ones.”
The hospital negligence case is expected to move forward following the funeral, with the family pressing for accountability.
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