Crash victim airlifted to Jamaican burns unit
Jessie Perry
(CNS): Jessie Perry, the 21-year-old woman who was very badly burned in a car crash early Monday morning, has been transported to a specialist burns unit in Jamaica. The young woman does not have medical insurance but needs costly and specialist treatment to save her life. As a result the family has now set up and account for donations. Government and others have already helped with costs but it will be a long road for Perry.
Perry has burns on over 80% of her body after the car she was a passenger in flipped over and burst into flames following the crash near Public Beach on the West Bay Road. She was airlifted Thursday night to the University College Hospital, friends of the family have confirmed.
Having received treatment at the Cayman Islands Hospital in George Town hospital, the young woman has been stabilized but will now receive the specialist care she needs in Jamaica.
The driver of the car received 20% burns to his body in the crash, which happened around 1:30am on 14 September. He remains at the ICU in the local hospital.
An emergency fund account has been set up to collect donations for Perry’s treatment at CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank – account number 10459786.
For more details on how to help, contact Jacqueline Ebanks on 322-5673.
Category: Local News, Police
And that’s why health care insurance should be governmental.
Thank you 9:31 and 2:19 for your answers re. JA and US hospitals. There was no bad intention. This is just such a sad story and I am hoping her the best….for care and in recovery. Prayers for her and her family.
Is Shriner’s only for children under 18? Read this on their website “The Tampa Shriners Hospital for Children is a $30 million, 60-bed pediatric orthopaedic hospital serving children in Florida, southern Georgia and the Caribbean regardless of the families’ ability to pay. In a network of 22 hospitals, the Tampa Hospital is the 19th orthopaedic hospital as four facilities are burns institutes. “I never realized there was an age limit at Shriner’s. Even still, they do great things.
Many of these comments really demonstrate the gutter-level mindset of many people here on CNS.
I wish you a speedy and full recovery Jessie. Keep on fighting. See you around again soon.
– Who
Who at 7:43, 19:09: a little harsh, don’t you think? The overwhelming majority of the comments have been supportive, positive and helpful. One or two could raise their empathy and compassion barometers, but by and larger I think Cayman us bring shown here to be caring and charitable.
I am so happy to hear that she’s been airlifted to Jamaica and we pray for her speedy recovery. I understand a significant sum of money has been raised and I was proud to be a part of this community when I heard how much was in fact raised. As this fund is mentioned on this website I’m assuming we can be told how much they have raised to date particularly as her treatment will be in Jamaica. And hopefully all of it will be carefully managed for the long road to recovery this young lady has ahead of her. God bless her.
From what I have heard from family mebers, she was so critical that it was touch and go getting her out of her by air ambulance. She needed immediate specialist interventions. I am guessing that there was not likely enough money to get her to the more costly US and her survival meant that they could no longer wait for the required funding.
I am glad she is now getting specialist care and wish her and her family the very best for her recovery. I join them in prayers and the community in giving.
I hope she is on her way to recovery. Curious why she would head to JA instead of Shriners in the States which is the known as the best burn hospital? Is it because of insurance or because she is Jamaican and where her family would be comfortable? How is the hospital in JA? I feel so bad for this young woman and do hope she is getting the best care.
How is the driver – being burned over 20% is pretty bad, too?
Prayers for both.
As someone just looking on, not knowing the specifics of this case, I suspect a number of factors resulted in her being transported to Jamaica. One biggie is likely the difference in costs. In one case I know of, a three month stay, many weeks of which were spent in critical care, the bill tallied up to a half million U.S. dollars. Another big consideration is accessibility to family support. It can be enormously difficult for patient and accompanying family member to go through something like this alone for an extended period.
I suspect in any case that she may also eventually have to go to the U.S. for plastic surgery.
So while I am sure the US might have been the better option, when you weigh all the factors, Jamaica might have come out on top.
But the UWI hospital is good and I believe that the decision was made as well in the best interest of the patient.
People should continue to give, as she will need a lot of financial support to get her back on her feet and to a normal life. It will be a long haul.
I agree with the writer who asked immigration to check into why this woman did not have health insurance as part of her work permit arrangements. I call u
On government to take the necessary action on this matter.
I agree that Shiners would be more state of the art, but I think she needed urgent care and UWI HoItal was possibly her only option given available resources. But it is a good hospital and does offer the specialiased care she urgently needed. I don’t think she could wait much longer, waiting for the necessary funding for the US to materialize. Just my assessment as an onlooker. Perhaps the family could clarify.
Very sorry to hear of the young woman’s injuries & wish a speedy recovery , but this may be a long recovery for her. One has to ask why the family or employer has no health insurance provided for her ?
I hope that immigration will be looking into why this woman did not have Heath insurance.
On the comment on the payout by the car insurers, I read in another media that that would be forthcoming. However, I suspect that that will not go as far as needed.
So far, there are medical bills at our hospital, air ambulance fees, bills at the new hospital, where I can imagine she will be for a while in expensive intensive care. Then after critical care there wil be another fairly long road involving rehab, plastic surgery, etc. I suspect that her mother will be unable to work for a while while she stands by her critically ill daughter.
This must be quite catastrophic for this family. I hope that the public will find it possible to give whatever they can. We never know when something like this can come our way.
Agreed. Hope her employer is held accountable. Perhaps made to pay out of their pockets what would have been covered by health insurance
…at a minimum they should be required to immediately pay everything that should have been covered by insurance. They should also be arrested and charged for various offences, but this is Cayman and….
I hope that the family will let us know: 1. How much has been so far raised both from the local and international community and from insurance payments; and 2. What costs have been accrued so far.
They should also keep us informed on her progress through the various stages, and costs involved.
When the community gives, it is a good strategy to keep the public informed through the media.
Best wishes to the patient and for her swift recovery.
Who is her employer who it seems said on her work permit application form that she had health insurance? Have they been arrested? When are we going to realize that the funny games people play with non compliance with Cayman Law can and do actually kill people! I wish her the very best.
I’m a little confused. Should the Car insurance company not be paying for these expenses?
Yes, I thought the same. Either that or those with power of attorney in her name should sue the said insurance company (of driver) for damages & medical costs. Wish her the best in her recovery.
First off, hope she does OK. Wouldn’t the car insurance cover personal injury in a car crash like this? I’m pretty sure it does in the US and UK.
Lets hope that she does “ok”? You don’t seem to care about a successful recovery not with that “ok” statement.
BTW; we’re not in the US or UK.
“BTW; we’re not in the US or UK.”
Yuh. We know
It’s never going to be a 100% recovery with the extent of the burn injuries is it Inspector Clueless? Our legal system and large part of our insurance industry is based on the UK’s so 11.12 makes a good point. Generally the auto insurer would pre authorize medical fees, so if they haven’t in this instance then potentially they are disputing liability. A tough thing to do if the driver had an in force policy.
Without being too insensitive I was being realistic to her condition, with 80% burns the best you can wish for is OK. She is unlikely to ‘successfully recover’ no matter what is wished for, it will likely be a life changing accident and one that requires insurance sized payouts to facilitate rehabilitation. .
A terrible situation for her and her family but motor insurance companies do not (nor do they have to) pay out automatically. Obviously I can’t comment on this case but in both the USA and the UK insurance companies have successfully argued for years that passengers in vehicles driven by drivers who are clearly impaired (e.g. DUI) and/or driving recklessly are not entitled to any compensation. It may be in this case that the insurers are simply waiting on RCIPS accident reports in the hope of finding a get out from what is certain to be a very expensive claim. Based on some of the other comments about her employer not paying mandatory health insurance the law has a simple solution to this – the employer is responsible for paying for her treatment.