Something about the death of 13-year-old Teron Francis demands
answers to questions that are not being asked. Likewise, the
senseless accidental deaths of 2-year-old Jonathan Sanchez, who
fell six stories, and 7-year-old Carlos Santiago, who was struck
by a hit-and-run driver, should be prompting a huge public
campaign for safety guidelines for the city's children - but
they're not.
On April 15, Teron visited Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, where he had
been a dental patient, for a root-canal procedure. Because an
adult did not accompany him, he was rescheduled. Three days
later, he returned with his mother, and they were both admitted -
his mother for hypertension and Teron for headaches and a fever.
I have no medical training, but I've always been aware of the
danger of infections of the mouth, or anywhere around the mouth,
that might infect the brain. As a teenager, I was warned about
pimples that might develop infections that would travel to my
brain. Now, someone at Bronx-Lebanon must have been aware of this
danger. Surely, someone must have examined young Teron and been
aware of his infected tooth. Did the dental clinic that
determined that the teenager needed a root canal give the mother
a prescription for an antibiotic? Any infection must be cleared
up before surgery. Did the mother wait three days before
returning to the hospital because the potential seriousness of an
infection was not conveyed to her? Could the cost of the
antibiotic have been a factor? No one's talking about this case,
because both the parents and the hospital have engaged attorneys.
Perhaps the biggest question I have is: How can a hospital be
prevented from treating a seriously ill child without parental
permission, yet a girl can get an abortion without it?
Planned Parenthood's Web site says:
"If you live in New York State, which does not have either
parental consent or parental notification laws, you do not need
parental consent to get an abortion, and your parents will not be
notified if you choose to have one. As a matter of fact, there
are confidentiality laws in New York State that prohibit
providers from telling parents if a minor has received any family
planning services, including abortion and birth control."
Does this then mean that after an abortion, should a minor incur
an infection, which is not uncommon, she will be refused
treatment at a hospital unless she has her parent with her? Just
asking.
Then of course we've had a series of horrific accidents recently
involving at least four toddlers who fell out of windows, yet
many New Yorkers still believe that it's the responsibility of
the landlords to provide the necessary guards. Not necessarily.
The city's window-guard laws state that parents must notify the
landlord if they have any children under 11 living in the
apartment; they must let the landlord install the guards; they
must not remove them or make any changes to them. The onus of
their children's safety is on the parents.
The city has a Windows Falls Prevention Program, which lists
safety guidelines that every parent who lives in a building with
more than two floors should follow. Nevertheless, few window
guards are visible in Manhattan's high-rise apartments. When I
lived on the 17th floor of Waterside Plaza, I never opened the
huge windows that swung out sideways for cleaning because I was
terrified of an accident befalling my toddlers.
Anyone who thinks those accidents happen only to minority
children and in less affluent neighborhoods must not remember the
death of Eric Clapton's poor son, Conor, 4, who fell to his death
from a 53rd-floor apartment, or Yankee pitcher Tommy John's
2-yearold, Travis, who miraculously survived his fall from a
third-floor window of a New Jersey house.
Seven-year-old Carlos Santiago ran across the street to buy ice
cream and was run over by a hit-and-run driver, still at large.
Every parent's nightmare was realized in that accident, and my
heart goes out to his parents and to all the families that have
suffered the untimely deaths of their young.
When I think of the open windows of my childhood, the fires in my
tenement building; a burst appendix at age 8, and being run over
by a bike while crossing the street, I feel immensely blessed to
have avoided serious injury. I also learned an invaluable
parenting lesson that helped thwart the potential disasters in my
children's lives. I practiced eternal vigilance, rarely let them
out of my sight, and kept them as healthy as possible.
Children are gifts that must be guarded constantly. No worldly
distraction is worth the loss of their presence in our lives.