The Jocelyn Yvette Dickson Story, including one mother’s struggle for justice in the careless purloining of her daughter’s young life, and the truth that there are hundreds of thousands of stories like Jocelyn’s, and mothers like hers, must be heard. From the first day of her life when Jocelyn’s fight for the right to breathe began, to the day medical doctors decided a young girl with C.H.A.R.G.E Syndrome, who had, for 22 years, fought valiantly and won every medical challenge known to man, was of no value to society and took away her right, the story must be told. The world must know that a young girl can be rushed to the hospital, with a piece of corn dog lodged in esophagus, and end up in a hospital room, attached to a Propofol drip, with 6 sponges sewn up inside of her, perforations of the esophagus and the colon – which a CAT scan had revealed 13 hours before she would be pronounced dead, having suffered sepsis and cardiac arrest, bleeding out on the floor, alone, her mother and grandmother waiting outside, without a word from one medical professional that their child’s life was gone. The world must know that this can happen and all participants walk away free and clear because Tort Reform has barred all legal recourse, because the medical, legal, and judicial communities have established alliances that serve as roadblocks to any citizen seeking resolution to medical negligence and malpractice.
Jocelyn’s story is one of human rights and the value being placed on, exaggerated, malpractice costs over that of human life. Her story is one of the public’s right to know if a hospital or doctor being paid for services has a history of malpractice suits and reprimand for reprehensible behavior which violates the vow and/or oath required of their profession. This story is that story, with all of the necessary elements, capable of illustrating the need to reform Tort Reform, the Public Information Act, and other legislation and policy that allow medical negligence and other acts of harm and endangerment to go unanswered or only minimally compensated. Jocelyn’s is a story that will be un-heard only by legislators, hospital administrators, physicians, nurses, and American citizens who have no heart, and without which, are incapable of hearing, but they are not the majority.
The majority are average, ordinary, law-abiding citizens who would not dare think of wasting time and energy on frivolous lawsuits, though we are all, as Tort Reform rhetoric implies, presumed to be.
Unfortunately, the majority does not know that the moral cards are not stacked in his or her favor. Should a loved one fall at the hands of a practitioner with a history of malpractice suits and reprimand for reprehensible behavior which violates the vow and/or oath required of their profession or by the practices of a hospital with a history of the same, the chances of attaining justice are nil. The average ordinary citizen, in an emergency situation, is incapable of making an informed decision as to where and to whom he or she should entrust the care of a loved one, because that information is private, protected by the Public Information Act. In the absence of information, life-threatening decisions are left to chance. People should have the right to fight for their lives, and knowledge has always proven to be the most formidable weapon. People have a right to know.
Every day, national and international communities demonstrate a willingness to fight injustice. When the least of us is lucky enough to have his story told on a worldwide platform, it is heard, and people rise up. It is time for the Jocelyn Yvette Dickson Story to be told, and heard, so that response, reaction, and action might be inspired on behalf of Jocelyn, her mother, and all the other Jocelyn’s and mothers of Jocelyn’s continuing to suffer under the present medical system and the legalities that protect it, on behalf of all for whom Tort Reform, and the legalities that protect it, has been the great sound barrier in the hearing of their many stories.
Those of us still reeling from the impact of medical negligence and malpractice, trying to regain our footing, came to realize that individually battling such a formidable foe, quietly struggling to climb insurmountable obstacles equates to silence. It, ultimately became evident that our silence would not protect us, could not protect us; it is only when good men do good, that good gets done.”
Thus, it is the spirit of righting unchecked wrongs, of unified activism, of raising a singular voice, of standing for those unable to stand for themselves, and the spirit of intentional healing where we could empower others to keep living, empower others to fight back and to empower others to be empowered.
Everyone has the right to breathe………………….
