Sick child sleeping on hospital bench

For several nights, two-year-old Anna* has been sleeping upright on a wooden bench inside Spanish Town Hospital's emergency room - her mother's arms her only pillow, a fever her only constant.

Her mother, Mary*, says the ordeal began last week when her daughter came home from school with a high fever and severe joint pain.

"So I said to myself, maybe this is sickle-cell related," she told THE STAR. "I took her to [one] hospital, and they transferred her to Spanish Town in an ambulance. We're still waiting on a bed."

Since then, the toddler, has received care, all while sitting on a bench in different waiting areas of the hospital.

"When we just came, we were on a bench in the emergency area. Then they moved us to the treatment room side, still on a bench. Yesterday (Monday) evening, they moved me and some other parents to another waiting area with the promise of a bed," she said. "They keep saying no bed. But this is a sickle cell child, that's an emergency."

Mary said Anna's feet have begun to swell.

"I don't know if it's because of how long we have to be sitting on this bench. I'm tired. I want to go home. We've been moving from bench to bench," she sighed.

The distressed mother, who is unemployed and now depends on her sister to care for her other two children, said the experience has left her emotionally and financially drained.

"Sometimes when they give out food, I'm in the doctor's office so I miss it. I came with $5,000 from my mom. It's hard," she said quietly.

Mary said she asked for a transfer to another hospital but was told that could only happen if Spanish Town Hospital was unable to provide care.

"They said she should be on fluids, but because there's no bed, we can't set it up properly," she explained. Mary expressed belief that her daughter's case should be treated with urgency, as she is a sickle cell patient.

"She should be prioritised in some way, not saying other illnesses aren't important, but this is life-threatening."

Anna was diagnosed with sickle cell disease when she was just a month old. The inherited blood disorder causes severe pain, fatigue and swelling, and requires regular hospital care to prevent organ damage or infection.

"We can't eat properly, and now she's crying for her tummy. I know it's gas because we're not getting anything warm. We not eating on time or healthy," Mary said, looking at her daughter resting limp in her lap.

When THE STAR contacted the CEO of the Spanish Town Hospital, Jacqueline Ellis, she acknowledged that hospitals islandwide are grappling with severe bed shortages but declined to comment further. Across Jamaica, hospitals have reported overcrowded wards and limited space for admissions, particularly in paediatric and emergency units. Under Jamaica's Patient Charter of Rights, citizens are entitled to timely care and dignified treatment.

As the waiting area quieted late Tuesday night, Mary rubbed her daughter's swollen feet and whispered, "I just want her to be okay. I just want to go home."

*Names changed to protect identity