By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

RELATIVES of a Bimini woman who died from COVID-19 earlier this week say they believe their loved one could have survived the deadly virus if she had been evacuated to Nassau sooner.

Christal Saunders, 38, died on June 14 after a rapid antigen test diagnosed her with the virus several days earlier. She is the country’s latest victim to have died from COVID-19.

Her sister, Christie Saunders, told The Tribune yesterday the family is not certain where she contracted the virus, but noted she started experiencing flu-like symptoms sometime last week.

Ms Saunders said her sister’s worsening symptoms eventually drove her to the clinic to get answers, where she was eventually diagnosed with the infection.

“She told my daughter she was going to walk to the clinic because she didn’t like how she felt…so I went up there (after work) and they told her it sound like pneumonia and they did a rapid (antigen) test and it was positive,” she said.

The Bimini resident said doctors told the family they were going to evacuate Ms Saunders to New Providence to get further medical care.

However, the relative said officials were unable to do so the same day after experiencing difficulties locating a suitable isolation pod able to accommodate her sister’s size.

Ms Saunders added her sister was overweight.

“She went up to the clinic on Saturday around 7am and we spent the whole night under the tent because we didn’t go in the clinic and we spent the whole night, because I wanted to make sure she was okay, and then she didn’t leave Bimini until Sunday I think after 6pm,” the Bimini resident said.

“We were trying to get a flight to come in to get her here but because of her size, we had an issue with the chamber thing that she needed to transport her to Nassau.”

Asked if she believed her sister would still be alive if she had been airlifted earlier, Ms Saunders replied: “Yeah, from what the doctor told my dad, he did tell them a day would’ve made a difference, so yeah.”

She called the situation disheartening, especially considering the fact that similar episodes have happened on the island in the past.

Kim Johnson-Rolle, the country’s first COVID-19 death, died in March 2020 after officials were also unable to evacuate her from Bimini in time. It took officials about 24 hours to evacuate Mrs Johnson-Rolle and she died soon after arrival in New Providence.

A year later, Louis Edward Rolle, a 74-year-old fisherman who also lived in Bimini, died from the virus after he was not evacuated to New Providence, again because he weighed too much.

“It’s crazy because it’s the same thing over and over and I feel like you shouldn’t have to be going through the same thing,” Ms Saunders told this newspaper yesterday. “It’s a problem and it needs to be rectified. That’s something from that first instance where we should’ve been working on it.

“We can’t just keep sitting down and hoping and praying that our loved ones would get the proper medical attention and just sitting down and praying that they could actually find an isolation chamber to transport them,” she added.

“We shouldn’t have to be going through this. We already been through enough. It’s something that needs to be fixed and they need to fix it. Everybody ain’t the same shape and everybody ain’t the same size.”

In May, Health Minister Renward Wells said that the government had acquired isolation chambers that can transport obese people from the Family Islands to New Providence. It is unclear, however, in this case, why the deceased was not airlifted off Bimini sooner.

Ms Saunders said her sister’s untimely death has deeply affected the family, who are still in “disbelief” over the whole ordeal.

She described the 38-year-old as a quiet, loving and family-oriented woman who got along with everyone she met.

“Everybody is pretty much numb and we’re still in disbelief. We’re trying to push,” the relative said. “Everyone is just trying to push because we have our moments where you have to separate and just random breakdowns so nobody taking it well. She has a lot of nieces and nephews, and they were like her children, all of them. Every single one. They were her kids so ain’t nobody taking it good. We were close, very close.

“She was the main person to take care of our mom. (Our mother has) Alzheimer’s. Everything she did for her....I think (our mom) has a feeling. She don’t understand, but I think she feels it. We noticed that in the last few days, she was quieter and more withdrawn.”

According to data released from the Ministry of Health yesterday, 240 people have died from the virus to date. Health officials also recorded 17 new cases on Tuesday, pushing the nation’s overall tally to 12,242. Of this total count, 710 cases are still active.

Meanwhile, 40 people are said to be in hospital with the virus.