Sandy Ground: -- The parents, relatives, teachers, and students of Sandy Ground Primary all have questions that are yet to be answered about the sudden death of 11-year-old Olivier Laurence Simon.His mother Catherine Simon in an interview with SMN News said her son fell ill on November 27 2009. Simon said her son told her he ate something in school that day and he began having belly pains and was feeling extremely tired. Simon said she told her son to take a nap since he also played football that day. The next morning she said Olivier woke up with a fever and was vomiting. She said she took him to see a doctor located at the Marina Fort Royale and this doctor told her the child had dengue and he gave her a prescription to buy some medication. The mother said she was amazed at the diagnosis because the doctor never conducted any blood test but he determined that the child had dengue based on the symptoms. The mother said the doctor also gave her a letter to take to the Sandy Ground Primary School where the child is a student. "I am not a doctor so I did what the doctor told me and now my son is dead."
Simon said the child never got better instead his condition worsened and she then took him to the emergency room at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital on December 3 where the doctors also determined the child had dengue without conducting the necessary testing. She said at the hospital the doctor on duty gave the child some syrup and told her that she has to allow the medication given to her by the city doctor and the syrup he prescribed to work, since there is actually no medication for dengue.
Simon said her son was sent home on that day but the moment she left the hospital her son began telling her that the syrup that was given to him is scratching his mouth and inside of his stomach. She said despite that she bought the syrup and continued giving her son the medication that was prescribed to him but on December 9 the child collapsed.
Simon said she took the child back to the hospital because by then the child was vomiting blood. She said it was then the doctors at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital decided to admit the child and to conduct the necessary tests. "It was after they took a test they came to tell me that my son does not have dengue. Instead, he has a terrible infection and germ that has attacked his organs. The doctor said the infection already attacked his heart and lungs, but up to now no one can say what type of infection Olivier had." 'They told me the blood he was vomiting was coming from his throat but that too turned out to be false."
The distraught mother said she sat beside her son bedside and saw that the doctors at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital did not know what they were treating her son for and she even asked them to send the child to either Martinique or Guadeloupe where the doctors would be better equipped to diagnose her son's illness. She said the doctors told her that the same medication that is given to Olivier on St. Martin would be given to him elsewhere and that he would get better with time. On December 15, Simon said she left the hospital to go to her job since she did not report to work since the child got ill. She said shortly after she received a call and was told that she needed to return to the hospital immediately since her son needed blood and she needed to sign for him to get that blood. Simon said the doctor assured her that when the child is transfused he would get better. The woman said she signed the form and the minute the child got the blood his condition deteriorated. "My son was vomiting the blood they gave him. They gave him two bags of blood and he began vomiting it right away." She said she looked at her son and saw how he was breathing and she knew that he was dying. "It was then several doctors came including nurses and began working on my son as they prepare to ship him out to Martinique for further treatment." Simon said her child died as he was on his way to that island, and to date no doctor at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital can say what killed him.
"The doctors want me to stay quiet but I cannot, I need to know what killed my son and who is responsible for his death."
Bringing the Body Back to St. Martin.
Simon said when her son died the hospital called her and the doctors wanted to know what she is going to do now that he is dead. She said she met with a social worker who told her they could arrange for the child to be cremated in Martinique and the ashes can be brought back to St. Martin, which she refused. Catherine Simon a national of Dominica said the Social Worker told her she had no rights to contest or fight to bring the body of her son back to St. Martin since she has been residing on St. Martin illegally. Simons said ever since she has been raising funds to pay for her son's body to be returned to St. Martin, where he was born and went to school so that he can have a decent funeral, she said she also met with the prosecutor where she outlined her case.
In an invited comment, Vice Prosecutor Jacques Louvier said he did receive the parent and has ordered an autopsy. The autopsy he said should be conducted sometime this week in Martinique.
The fight to Obtain Residency.
Catherine Simon said she has been trying to obtain a Carte de Sejour for years but she has been denied. The woman said she arrived on St. Martin in the year 1996 with a French visa. Since then she has been working, and declaring her taxes. Catherine Simon also has an indefinite working contract along with social security.
However, for unknown reasons her application for residency on the French side has been denied on several occasions. She was asked to leave St. Martin which she tried doing but her island Dominica has refused to accept Olivier Laurence Simon since he was born on St. Martin and was not in possession of a travel document. Simon said she was forced to return to St. Martin with her son and ever since then she has been residing and working on the French side with an indefinite working contract.
The woman said when her son died the social worker contacted the Prefecture to see if they could grant her a lesser passer (travel permit) to go over to Martinique to arrange her son autopsy and that too was denied. She said after insistence the prefecture had decided to give her authorization for one day but that was not enough.
Catherine Simon is now calling on the prefecture to tell her what she has done to St. Martin or those responsible for the granting of residency for them to deny her. She said even her son who was born on the island did not have any documents even though he was attending school.
The child she said once asked her if he was not from St. Martin and Dominica where is he from since he was supposed to travel with his school to Guadeloupe. The woman said a teacher from that school fought for her child to go along with his class, which he did not long before he died. Furthermore, Simon has a daughter who has completed school on the French side and the prefecture also denied her residency. "Someone at the prefecture told my 18 year old daughter that the only way she can get her papers is if she bore a child for someone from St. Martin."
In an invited comment, Monsieur Nicoli said that he was at his office from 7 am to grant the Simon a one-day permit to travel to Martinique to cremate her son but no one ever went to pick up the document. Nicoli said the assistant social from the hospital made the arrangements for him to be at his office at 7 am and no one ever contacted him after to say they were not interested in the one-day permit. Furthermore, asked why Simon could not have her documents Nicoli said that he did not have any dossier for the woman. He said people have to respect the law when applying for French residency, which includes the speaking of the French language.