NEENA RANI's CHILDREN

#NEENARANI

 

 

 

I've went to school with Neena Rani's second child, he has been my close friend for 9+ years and worked with the youngest brother for a few years too. Despite him not wanting a GoFundme to be started [because he does not want people to think they are using a tragedy to raise money] I will start this anyways. I know there is another gofundme, started by the daughter's coworker:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-family-of-neena-rani

and I encourage you to donate to either one of these accounts.

 

This goFundMe page will focus on paying the last semester's tuition fees for Neena Rani's children. In addition, any money left over will be spent on pursuing this matter legally (as per her son's wish) to try and reform the healthcare system.

They had compromised their education many times to provide for their family. My friend was so excited about graduating this semester--but he is now unable to. As I write this, he is working 10 hours right now until 5-6am... I want him to take him off, stop worrying about paying the school fees, lawyer fees, bills, etc... 


**Proof and receipts of this cause will be shown through _kirankc (daughter of Neena Rani)

 

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CONTEXT:

 

 

Neena Rani's three kids are left alone, missing the only [present] parent in their lives. I say kids because regardless of age, these are mom’s babies. This feeling of ache for a mother has no age bias. These kids took on the role of a father from a young age, supporting not only their mother--but themselves and their household. Sacrificing and delaying their education to provide financial stability for their family, the two eldest kids were nearing the end of their studies in university, taking on the major workload (working full time and going to University part-time) to make sure their youngest brother finishes his studies.

 

A day after their mother went missing, the first two kids were understandably unable to do their midterms and continue their education. The two kids had to drop the semester. This family has faced many hardships but managed to overcome so many odds. They were looking forward to the next chapter in their lives as they were all nearing the end of their studies or starting a career to support the household. The light at the end of the tunnel was so near--then this happened.

 

“I was looking forward to the next chapter of our lives, my brother was finishing school, I was finishing school, my sister would soon get married. I was really looking forward to this new chapter—with my mom. I just wish she waited a little longer”, said the middle son. Despite their anticipation for the next chapter, the kids saw a continuous decline or change of behaviour in their mother. Unaware of the 'symptoms' of clinical depression, schizophrenia--and maybe other complex words that I am not informed enough to know--the kids provided the best emotional support, cheerfulness, and monitoring for their mother.

 

During the past few months, they have seen a steep decline and concerning behaviours where they reached out to their family doctor Dr. Khatija Daginawala, who I am adamant should have done more. I am angry as to how these signs were ignored by medical professionals. I am angered by this medical negligence and malpractice.

 

Book definition of physician negligence includes:

 

Failure to treat a patient

Mistakes in diagnosis

Delayed diagnosis

Failure to refer a patient to a specialist

Providing substandard care

Errors in prescribing or administering medications

 

And I will argue that this case fits the above scenarios. I want to know WHY just 4 days before this incident happened, the hospital professionals at the EMERGENCY referred Neena Rani back to the family doctor. Being thrown from the family doctor to the emergency back to the family doctor. What would you have done? How would you save your mother when the resources that are implemented to save such people have failed...miserably. They say doctors are overwhelmed because of covid, the waitlist to see a therapist is 2 years long... Maybe in today's global news, we should lessen the time spent speaking about Covid Vaccine Passports and start speaking more about our continuously crumbling health care system…even prior to covid! Maybe we should ask ourselves why in Canada only 1.05% of all wrongful death in the hands of medical professionals results in a lawsuit, and amongst which ONLY 0.0256% of the lawsuits are victorious for the victims? I WANT TO SEE BETTER ACCOUNTABILITY! This cannot happen so easily--this negligence---this cannot happen to more mothers, my mother, your mother.

 

Doctors are heaven-sent, there is a lack of quantity in our province, if not country, if not WORLD right now, however, we cannot compromise quality with this lack of quantity. I cannot help but wonder if Dr. Khatija Daginawala was incompetent in her practice or whether the stigma in the south Asian community (herself being amongst this community) has interfered with her vision to adequately provide the help? Is the schooling outdated? Is the curriculum lacking? Or is this inherent bias stemming from culture one of the reasons why this urgent situation was not taken seriously? Or... am I too angry that I am just not being logical? I hope I am wrong. I hope there was nothing, absolutely nothing that no one, including trained professionals in this matter, could have done. Maybe I hope I am wrong because it's easier to digest that there was NO WAY to help than to think there was a way to help, there was a way these three KIDS could have kept their mother today. Neena Rani should have seen so much more and it's easier to think this was fate and destiny to blame than to blame the failed healthcare system. Don't get me wrong, one bad fruit doesn't mean a bad tree. I respect and am grateful beyond words to every healthcare worker. This criticism is not to take away from these selfless professionals, it is to shine light on a small minority of professionals who fail our loved ones. Or maybe they are set up for failure by this overwhelmed system. There needs to be accountability!

 

These kids need answers. Maybe answers they do not even want to hear--but they need it, just as desperately as the mother needed HELP. Let me tell you, during the time of her decline, the mother spoke about suicide. No trigger warning, I want the story of Neena Rani to disturb you because no change comes without disturbance. This word of self-harm is associated with a whirlwind of consequences. Those that contemplate this are afraid to vocalize this word because they FEAR being institutionalized, losing rights, being placed in a dark room, constrained, seen as weak from the community...For every *trigger* warning post I saw with a dark ending–I am yet to see a proportional ratio of HOW THE SYSTEM HAS HELPED, HOW THE RECOVERY JOURNEY WAS EASY TO GET INTO AND EVEN EASIER TO GET OUT OF, CURED. I WANT TO SEE THAT. Don’t let my lack of knowledge in this domain add any more skepticism and fear about the system. That is the LAST thing I want. If only Neena Rani didn’t think of getting help as something so negative…WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS? This is the problem. This isn’t a unique problem, especially not in the south Asian community. As far as I see it, mental illness is a terminal illness–just like cancer maybe. Unlike cancer though–I question whether the medical treatments are improving over years, decades, centuries. I question whether the research, funding, and knowledge are growing like it has for cancer. The more I think about it, the more similarities both illnesses have. What did a cancer patient do to cause it? NOTHING. What did Neena Rani do to cause this? NOTHING. What gave you cancer? WHO KNOWS. What happened in Neena Rani’s life to cause this mental state? WHO KNOWS. At least for Cancer, we can blame mutations in DNA, parabens, etc–but who can we blame for not getting the help she direly needed? Dr. Daginawala? Maybe—maybe NOT, maybe the problem is more complicated than that, maybe the problem is our south Asian community who are unable to see mental illness for what it is, an illness, terminal, just like cancer. Will you shun a person for having cancer? No, it is okay to be weak in this case. Why is it not okay to be weak-minded? Why cannot the older generation understand mental illnesses are just as, or maybe even more severe than the most terminal illness because mental illness can be a silent killer–like cancer. Even the person who has this illness does not want to get the help because they believe the help comes with such great repercussions and shame. False. When are we going to SHOW them that it does not have to be like that? I think the answer is clear. We will SHOW them, once there are more and more survival stories–forget that, let’s do baby steps, how about when we are NOT turned down at the emergency center when we bring out mother for help, how about before respecting covid protocols you respect moral protocols and listen to the daughter begging to enter the hospital with her mother than simply saying it is a maximum of one person who can enter the waiting room? How about the family doctor listens to the FAMILY even if the patient says “I am okay”. When will it be time to fix this healthcare system? The system is broken. Obviously. But to fix it, what more will it take? How many more mothers will it take? My singular outcry will not help fix this, my single outcry for help will not change the south Asian generation's long stigma about mental illness–I don’t know what this singular outcry will do–I guess I just want to express my anger here, I am angry about how Neena Rani was failed by the system. I am angry at how many opportunities were lost to prevent Neena Rani’s disappearance. I have a problem that isn’t my own, and I could only ask you to see this as the same. Treat others like you want to be treated they say…well this is what I would want someone to do if this happened to my mother, so here I am.