Local health authority issues public warning

The regional health agency which has governing oversights for the parishes of Kingston, St Thomas, St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon has been forced to issue a statement after the now viral image.

The photo shows a child wearing an oxygen mask with a caption seeking assistance to fund a nephrectomy kidney surgery estimated at J$3 million. The surgery is scheduled for July 31, roughly in two weeks it noted. The caption also stated that the image of the child is that of five-year-old girl Talianna Davis whose kidneys are in such poor health that it meets the classification of stage four.

According to the Mayo Clinic nephrectomy, also called kidney-sparing surgery, is a surgical procedure to remove all or part of a kidney. It also added that in most instances nephrectomy is done to treat kidney cancer or to remove a tumor that isn't cancerous.

With the image sparking negative responses primarily on social media, SERHA conducted its own checks, following which it issued a statement urging the public to desist from spreading disinformation.

SERHA stated:  “The management of the Bustamante Hospital (BHC) is advising the public about a photo that has been circulating on social media of a child wearing an oxygen mask and supposedly suffering from stage 4 kidney disease while on dialysis machine at BHC is false.

“According to the hospital's report, there are two stable dialysis patients at the moment, neither of which is a female. Patients with stage 4 kidney disease at BHC are not on dialysis. 

“SERHA is pleading with the public to stop disseminating misleading information about its institutions.”

Crime officer in charge of the Police Area 3 DSP Jermaine Anglin says it was nothing but a scam in this particular instance.

DSP Anglin is urging unsuspecting victims to do their own background checks before committing to assist toward such appeal.

The bottom-line is to do proper due diligence first because you do have persons in need,” he explained. Where a private or public institution is used go and check with that institution and request information about the person you intend to help.”

Persons who fall victim to these types of scams will not be able to seek financial redress through the bank, he tells Old Harbour News. 

“The bank will not call it a fraud,” Anglin added. “The bank is used as a legitimate channel to commit the fraud. So the bank will not be liable.”

Such a scam is a criminal offence as the objective is to obtain money by fraud, the top investigator said.

Such a crime carries a penalty of being fined or imprisonment or both, depending on the weight of evidence before a magistrate.