Gavriel said her husband is someone that suffers from sea sickness and she bought some medication from Cyprus which she travelled with and her husband was using. Gavriel further explained that her husband was feeling dizzy while on board the ship on Thursday and they both went to the pharmacy on board the ship and bought some over the counter medication which her husband took. "We asked the woman in the pharmacy if it was okay for my husband to take the medication she sold us because my husband had already taken the medication we bought in Cyprus and the woman told us the medication she sold to us was better and my husband should take the medication before meals." Gavriel said her husband's condition worsened on the ship and he was seen by the doctor on board who advised him to go to the St. Maarten Medical Center for further treatment. The bereaved wife who was on her honeymoon cruise with her husband said that they went to the St. Maarten Medical Center and a heart specialist saw her husband and recommended that he travel to Martinique for further medical care. "On Friday morning, my husband said he was feeling better and he did not want to go to Martinique but the doctor said he had to go there for treatment."
Tony Pantophlet, Manager of Patient Care of the St. Maarten Medical Center told SMN News in an invited comment that the cardiologist at the St. Maarten Medical Center saw the patient and he coordinated the transfer of the patient with a Cardio-logical Center in Martinique. Pantophlet said an aircraft equipped with a doctor and nurse came in at the Princess Juliana International Airport on Friday evening to pick up the patient and took him to the Princess Juliana International Airport for Air Evacuation to Martinique. Pantophlet said that the staff of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) had no knowledge as to how the patient got on the French side of St. Martin and that they did not make any contact with Transport Aériens Intercaraïbes (TAI) to transport the patient. "We were of the opinion that the patient was taken to Martinique and we were all shocked when we learnt that the plane crashed on the French side." Pantophlet said the St. Maarten Medical Center had no contact with TAI and they do not know who contacted the French company to evacuate the patient. SMMC is expected to make a full statement to the media sometime Sunday afternoon.
As for the man's wife, Pantophlet said the woman wanted to travel with her husband on the Air Ambulance and the doctors refused to allow her to travel with him because they did not want to hamper patient care while a family member is on board the same flight. "The medical team did not want to have any distraction with family members if they had to resuscitate a patient while in flight."
Pantophlet said Gavriel departed St. Maarten Friday afternoon and she was to meet her husband in Martinique. "His wife took a commercial flight out of St. Maarten on Friday afternoon because she knew her husband was going to leave that night."
In the meantime, the Inspectorate of Health Dr. Earl Best has launched an investigation in the plane crash that took the lives of four people. In an invited comment, Dr. Best said he has to make sure proper procedures were followed with the medical evacuation from the St. Maarten Medical Center to Martinique. He said up to Sunday morning the cardiologist from the St. Maarten Medical Center did not submit the dossier on the patient to his office.
In the meantime, the search and rescue team that came into St. Martin from Guadeloupe have resumed their mission on Sunday morning to locate the bodies of the four victims. In an invited comment, Prefet Delegue Philippe Chopin said that no bodies were recovered. When asked if body parts were found, Prefet Chopin said he could not confirm that information.
