By FELICITY DARVILLE

WHEN Erin Bethell-Jones assisted her grandmother, Janey with receiving her vaccine for protection against COVID-19, it was a proud moment. She wanted her to be safe in a pandemic and live as many healthy happy years as she could. However, last month Janey passed away from a non-COVID-related issue. What tore Erin up is that she felt her grandmother would still be alive if an ambulance was able to come for her.

Janey was a vibrant 99-year-old family matriarch.

“She was perfectly healthy,” Erin said.

“She walked with a walker because of her age, but she wasn’t bound to anything. Mentally, she was 100 percent there – she could still fuss you and tell you about your backside. She could put all six of her children in place.

“Recently, she was in the house more than usual because of COVID. Before, she would always go for an afternoon drive with my aunt. She was enjoying life. She outlived her husband by about 30 years. When we would visit her, she would be in her favourite chair. I don’t ever remember visiting her at her house and seeing her in bed. I remember that she was hospitalised for the Zika virus. I don’t remember her ever being hospitalised other than that.”

Erin believes there is a direct correlation between the current dwindling hospital services and the strain being put on the healthcare system by people who contract COVID. Whereas each individual deserves to have the full healthcare service available to them, Erin feels the high number of patients being hospitalised with COVID-19 could have been avoided if they had chosen to be vaccinated. She sees it as a community and even national responsibility.

Losing her grandmother was a tragic episode for Erin. That night, she penned an open letter to her fellow Rotarians. She serves as the Fellowship Chair for the Rotary Club of East Nassau. She and her colleagues have made it their responsibility to assist in the national vaccination efforts.

“I know RCEN (Rotary Club of East Nassau) and RCOB (Rotary Clubs of The Bahamas) at large are heavily involved in the vaccine rollout,” Erin wrote.

“I myself have been a frequent volunteer from the first week it started. But is there anything more we can be doing in terms of vaccine education for those medically able to receive the COVID vaccine? I’m asking this morning, because I’m angry. I’m angry that we should be celebrating my toddler’s first week ever of school this week, but instead we are mourning the loss of my grandmother who passed away last night.

“My grandmother was one of the first people to receive her vaccine during the senior roll out. I proudly assisted the nurse in administrating because I happened to be volunteering that day.

“A lovely woman who was 98 at the time, received her first dose and turned 99 fully vaccinated and healthy. I’m angry because she passed away last night from non-COVID related issues that possibly could have been treated should an ambulance been available. These days it’s difficult at times to even get a chair at the hospital or clinic because the health system is overrun by patients who have contracted COVID, and are now either hospitalised or over-running clinics due to non-vaccination. The choice to have your loved one treated or not has become increasingly difficult and in many cases taken away from you as so much of the onus is being placed on our amazing hard-working doctors/nurses and medical assistants who should not be in this prolonged and difficult position of prioritising care.

“I’m angry that this is happening to more and more families who have followed the medical advice, and where possible, safely gotten the vaccine and are still suffering and dying because other medically eligible members of the population continually refuse to. Your choice to take the vaccine or not affects not just you, but also your wider community. During this pandemic it is a heavy thought to bear and a choice that must be made wisely and with correct information.

“The vaccine has the ability to actively save lives and prevents you from getting so very ill that you require hospitalization should you unfortunately contract COVID, and there is still so much misinformation out there that as a science graduate, this astounds me. I’m angry that anyone has to endure a needless death because of the health system being strained by completely preventable hospital cases. Non-vaccinated COVID hospitalisation is preventable and needless.

“Some say they don’t want to get vaccinated because they have a strong constitution and don’t get sick… but they still end up in the hospital.

“Others who say they don’t need the vaccine, it’s a conspiracy, die in hospital. And more don’t want to take the vaccine because they do not know what’s in it. Ok, then continue to enjoy your excessively sugared drinks with tons of chemically synthesized ingredients unknown to you; continue to enjoy your chicken deep-fried in heavily processed oils with ingredients you cannot pronounce much less know; and continue to walk around and enjoy a healthy normal life because your parents or doctor vaccinated you from mumps, measles, rubella and polio when you were younger. I’m sure you know all the ingredients in those safe helpful vaccines. Yes, let’s continue to do fool – because that’s what’s we’re known for as Bahamians… right?”

Janey Vernel Bethel was born on July 6, 1922, in the tiny settlement of North Palmetto Point, Eleuthera. She was the youngest of seven children born to Frank and Onilla Thompson. Growing up, she had a keen interest in reading, poetry and music. She learned how to play the piano and the organ at an early age. Her father was a local preacher in the Methodist church. She became active in the church at an early age and played the piano and organ for church services.

After leaving school, Janey met and fell in love with Vernon Bethel. They got married in 1942. They moved to Nassau and lived in Culmersville with their six children before moving to Palmetto Village, where Janey lived until she passed away on September 8, 2021.

She is survived by three daughters and three sons: Enid, Elaine, Antoinette, Marvin, Gary and Michael, as well as a host of other relatives, family and friends. May she rest in peace.