The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A distraught family from Atlanta, Georgia is threatening to sue the government for the death of a beloved relative, who was denied his prescription drugs at the detention centre.

An independent pathologist is being brought to The Bahamas to perform an autopsy on 33-year-old Guyanese national Gordon Telford. Meanwhile his mother, Priscilla Telford and fianc�e Bianca Dulgheru, want Immigration officials to explain why officers, on Sunday, December 2, denied him his medicine after he was discharged from the Princess Margaret Hospital for conditions he reportedly suffered from because of his detention.

The Tribune contacted Immigration Director Jack Thompson yesterday for comment on the investigation into this incident.

However, while extending his condolences to the family on behalf of the agency, the director remained tight-lipped about the situation.

“We extend our condolences to the family but beyond that, I have no comment at this point on the matter. Once we’re in a position to give a statement on it after the investigation is completed, we will do so.”
 Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell could not be reached for comment up to press time.

Yesterday, Mrs Telford, Ms Dulgheru, along with Gordon’s sister and brother-in-law, Coreen and Conrad 
Williams, flew to the Bahamas where they immediately went to the morgue to see Gordon’s body.

They then met with Gordon’s attorney Alex Dorsett when they informed him of their intention to sue the government and by extension, the minister and/or department of immigration for what happened to their relative whose detainment from November 28 and reasons behind it remain a mystery.

Mr Dorsett and the family held a press conference at the Donna Dorsett law firm on Boyd Road where details of what allegedly transpired after the 33-year-old Guyanese national arrived in the Bahamas on Copa Airlines, a day after Thanksgiving.

“Gordon Telford would have been here sometime last week, I’m not certain of the exact date but I think it was about Wednesday, he was detained by the Bahamas Department of Immigration,” the attorney said.

“I would’ve seen him, as his attorney, for the first time on Friday (November 30) in relation to securing his safe return home. I took his instructions and saw him again on Saturday. I received a phone call from Gordon very early on Sunday morning around 7:30. He was complaining about difficulty breathing so I called an ambulance.

“I would’ve visited him at the hospital at about shortly after 1 on Sunday and he would’ve been in the custody of the Department of Immigration as an officer was there. I would’ve spoken to one of the doctors. When I saw him, he seemed fine.

“He was walking around and he’d already received some initial treatment. They were awaiting results of some tests, but he seemed fine.”

Dorsett said his client had been complaining that weekend about difficulty breathing, the conditions at the detention centre, and generally of not feeling well.

“He and other detainees who I represent as well, nine in total, were all complaining about the sanitization of the facility saying that there was water on the floor, the toilets were running over, the conditions were just unacceptable. They represented to me that they couldn’t believe that this was where illegals were to be housed.”

Dorsett said it is not known whether the conditions were the cause of his client’s breathing difficulty.

After leaving the hospital on Sunday around 3:30 because Telford appeared to be all right, he returned to the hospital at 5pm to check on him.

He received a call from Gordon who, giving the impression that he could not breathe well, told Mr Dorsett that he had been discharged with a prescription for medication and sent back to the detention centre, but the officer did not have his prescription filled.

“I then called the detention centre and spoke to that officer who represented that he was the officer in charge at the time, that officer told me that he had not filled the prescription. This was about 5 o’clock,” the attorney said.

The officer’s reasoning, said Dorsett, was because immigration department policy does not allow officers to fill prescriptions from private pharmacies and because it was a Sunday and the government pharmacy at PMH was not open after 5pm, his client would have to wait to receive the medication the following day, which was when Telford was scheduled to leave for Trinidad from The Bahamas.

“I told him that was unacceptable. I spoke to the doctors. I explained the emergency and reiterated to the officer that my client was complaining of difficulty breathing and he needed his medication and that I would undertake to have his prescription filled at a private pharmacy and bring the medication to him.”

Dorsett claimed the officer agreed to receive the medication. However, upon a second call around 5:30-5:45pm to confirm that the medication was on its way with a third party, he was told by a female officer that the centre would not be taking any medication.

“I told her that I’d already spoken with the officer in-charge and that he’d agree to accept the medication. I demanded to speak with the officer in charge. She informed me that the officer was unavailable and that I had to call back.”
He said around 6:15pm, he called back and they agreed to accept the medication but prior to calling back, he received a call from one of the detainees who told him about the reported decision of the officer in charge.

“They informed me that the officer had said that he is not giving my client any medication and that his attorney doesn’t run the detention centre,” Mr Dorsett said.

“At about 6:30pm or shortly after, I got another call from one of the detainees. This particular detainee was screaming and there was a lot of noise in the background and he was saying that my client was dead.”

Throughout the attorney’s account of what was revealed to him, family members of the deceased sat in a silence of sadness and despair. Gordon’s fianc�e and girlfriend of seven years said the death of her husband-to-be came as a shock to the entire family.

“It was a shock to all of us. I mean I spoke to him on Sunday morning. Mr Dorsett said Sunday morning he had spoken to him as well, saying that he was having difficulty, he couldn’t breathe. I had spoken to him before that and he was crying. He was literally crying….and sobbing,” his fianc�e said, as she wiped away her own tears.

“So I was nervous the entire day because I couldn’t hear from him and finally in the afternoon when he was released it was as a surprise to me he was released so fast.”

“The last time I spoke to him was 6 o’clock on Sunday and around 30-45 minutes later he was dead. It was just a shock. I don’t know how it happened. We just need answers. I don’t know why they didn’t offer the medical help he needed, but we just need answers.”

Gordon Telford has a 3-year-old son with Bianca. According to Bianca, young Benjamin believes his dad is coming home.

“I told him that morning that daddy’s sick and in hospital and he told me: ‘It’s okay, mommy. Daddy’s going to get better’. That night I tried to explain to him: ‘Your daddy went up to the Lord’ and he held me and said ‘Mommy don’t cry. Daddy’s going to get better. He’s coming home.’”

Mrs Telford, who described her son as a “very loving child,” said she is very distraught over his death. Mr Telford’s sister, Coreen, found it difficult to express her feelings. She said it was a very difficult time for the family.

The family and their lawyer contend that immediate medical help for Gordon Telford could have made the difference between life and death. They hoped no family, Bahamian or foreign, would ever have to go through what they and their loved one did.

Mr Dorsett said a lawsuit has not been filed as the family is giving the agency time to complete their investigations and report their findings into the incident. However, regardless of what answers are given, the government will be taken to court, he said.