A STRANGE CASE.
PRIVATE SINCLAIR'S STORY.
INVALIDED FOR CONSUMPTION AND DIDN'T KNOW IT.
At a recent meeting of the North Canterbury Hospital Board a statement was made to the board that a soldier had been invalided home from Egypt, and subsequently discharged in New Zealand without being informed of the nature of his ailment, which subsequently proved to be pneumonia. At to-day's meeting of the board the following report on the subject was received from the Medical Director of, the board's Tuberculosis (Dr J. G. Blackmore): —
"In reply to your inquiry regarding Private William Joseph Valentine Sinclair, the following is his man's history:
"He left New Zealand with the Main Expeditionary Force and was landed in Egypt. He considers that he got a cold going from Alexandria to Cairo, and since that time he has had more or less of a cough. He kept well, however, and quite fit for work until he had been in Egypt about three months, when he strained his back lifting a weight. He thinks that he also got an attack of influenza at the same time. He was medically examined and put to bed for two weeks. He was then sent to the convalescent camp fur five weeks. At this camp his chest was examined by Dr Trotter, and as the result, apparently, of this examination he was sent before a Medical Board, after which he was transferred to the invalids' camp for another five weeks, and then sent back to New Zealand. No one told him definitely what was wrong with him, but from his symptoms and the way he was examined he concluded that he was being invalided home on account of consumption. He felt pretty well on the voyage over and made no complaint. He was inspected once a week by the medical officer, along with other soldiers, but was never medically examined. He arrived in Wellington on May 5, when he, with others, was taken to the barracks. The next day he got his pay, was given a return ticket to Christchurch, and told he was granted twenty-eight days' furlough, and at the end of that time he was to report himself to the Defence authorities in Christchurch. He was not examined by any doctor in Wellington. He was not offered treatment or asked to go into hospital, nor was it suggested that he should obtain medical advice in Christchurch. He arrived in Christchurch on May 7, and went to stay with an uncle, with whom he had been staying before he went to the front. This uncle's name is Donald George Sinclair, and his address is 36, Idris Road, Fendalton.
"Three or four days later, probably on the following Monday, Private Sinclair went to the barracks, saw an officer there, a captain, reported that he was not feeling well, and asked that a doctor should see him. The officer said that he would see about the matter, but Sinclair has heard nothing further since that time.
"As no arrangement had been made for a doctor to see Sinclair by the following evening the uncle, who was feeling uneasy about his nephew's condition, got Dr Diamond to see him, and Dr Diamond at once gave him a note to the dispensary to enable him to undergo treatment for consumption. I saw him at the dispensary on May 12. Owing to the Coronation Hospital being full I had some difficulty in arranging for a bed for him, but I admitted him on May 15. Sinclair was born in New Zealand, and his parents are dead. He has no settled home, but usually stays with his uncle in Christchurch when he is working about the town. Sinclair did not make any voluntary complaint to me, and the particulars I have given were elicited in reply to questions. I know nothing about the Defence Department's side of the question, and have merely given the details furnished to me by the patient himself."
Mr O. Bradley said the report disposed absolutely of a number of extravagant allegations made on the subject, as investigation of such charges generally did.
Mr J. D. Hall said there had never been any allegation against the board's officers. He considered it extremely regrettable, however. that a man should be discharged from military service on the grounds of his suffering from consumption, and that no one should take the trouble to tell him what was the matter with him, or to advise him to undergo proper treatment. That this had happened was the crux of the charges made and Dr Blackmore's report substantiated it.
The discussion on the subject then terminated. -Star, 23/6/1915.
FOR THE EMPIRE'S CAUSE.
DEATHS.
SINCLAIR — On May 6, at Christchurch, William Joseph Valentine (late Expeditionary Force), youngest son of the late William and Elizabeth Sinclair; in his 27th year. Deeply regretted. -Otago Witness, 9/5/1917.
No comments:
Post a Comment