Malyia Jeffers, Toddler, Has Limbs Amputated After Waiting Too Long In Sacramento ER: You Can Help

December, with all of its holiday spirit, shouldn't be a tough month for a 2-year-old.

For Malyia Jeffers, however, it started with a feverish, five-hour emergency room wait that resulted in the amputation of her lower legs and left hand, and ended with her on a ventilator, undergoing kidney dialysis.

The Sacramento Bee reported that Ryan Jeffers and Leah Yang, Malyia's parents, rushed her to a Sacramento urgent care facility when they noticed she was running a fever and unusually lethargic. When specialists saw the young girl, they told them to take her to the Methodist Hospital emergency room immediately.

Once they arrived, Malyia developed bruise-like splotches on her cheeks and eventually couldn't muster the strength to walk.

Even with these symptoms, emergency room personnel told the family to wait. More than five hours later, Jeffers told KTXL that he couldn't take it anymore.

"I don't like being a loud, obnoxious person. Especially in an ER. But I felt it was a need for me to at least make a scene enough where it was actually getting ridiculous being told I was next over and over."

After Jeffers demanded assistance, they took a blood test that suggested the child was in liver faliure.

She was rushed to the pediatric care unit at Sutter Memorial Hospital, but her journey wasn't over yet. She was finally flown in by helicopter to Standford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital before she received the appropriate diagnosis.

They found out that Malyia had a Streptococcus A infection that had spread to her vital organs. For her to survive, she'd need her lower legs and left hand to be amputated.

WATCH:

The operations were successful, however the cold financial reality of the ordeal is starting to hit.

The bill for the helicopter transport alone is $26,000. Although the family is currently staying at the Ronald McDonald House for $10 per day, their other expenses are being paid out-of-pocket and Jeffers describes their insurance policy as inconsistent at best.

They have set up the Ryan Jeffers and Family Fund to collect donations. Even so, Jeffers told the Bee that money is not foremost in his mind.

"It's been hard, but we're not thinking about money right now. We're just thinking about Malyia."

To donate or view Malyia's blog, follow the Impact links below:

Comments

[Cynthia Boyer]

04:45 PM on 02/23/2011

Having worked in a trauma center, I am surprised that the triage nurse didn't put the baby towards the top of the list. Peds are often taken first as they can't tell anyone what is wrong with them, and if they are running a fever, then all sorts of blood work needs to be done to start trying to figure out what is wrong.

Also having been an unfortunate patient in a trauma center who was stuck waiting for hours with a head injury while they took all the kids and even a drunk guy ahead of me, I saw from the patient side that it wasn't just lethargic kids, but also screaming ones who went back quickly. I guess being knocked unconscious by a horse and not being able to see out of one eye didn't rate very high on their injury list...

[innerpuppie]

12:38 AM on 02/17/2011

I say send all of the bills to John Boehner to pay.

In all seriousness, what happened to this child is deplorable. That baby will pay for the rest of it's life for the inadequate attention and treatment by what were supposed to be trained health care workers. My heart breaks for her parents and for her. God bless all of them.

[escobar]

05:29 AM on 01/16/2011

They ignored a seriously sick baby.
Now the excuses roll. nobody's fault...
I hope it they sue for millions....the kid will need it.

[Dave A]

02:45 PM on 01/11/2011

This is an example of what the health care bill is suppose to help with.
If people have the chance to see a doctor rather than using the emergency room
as their primary doctor there would not be such a long wait for a poor child such as this one.
Please think of this when you hear anyone say repeal

[CDRUSNret]

06:07 PM on 01/11/2011

The new healthcare bill would prob alleviate the financial burden, but I fail to see how it would have prevented the medical outcome. With the sudden onset of symptoms, it's likely a primary care physician would have told them to go to an emergency room as the the urgent care docs did. If you're suggesting that emergency rooms would be less crowded under the new healthcare bill...there is some validity in theory, but that will need to be proven out.

[Yellowbird]

12:57 PM on 01/11/2011

L A W S U I T

The waiting period is RIDICULOUS

[Wendy Judith]

12:57 AM on 01/11/2011

It's so easy to blame the staff...but a lot of hospitals don't have enough beds and staff. I agree that this is malpractice...but people forget that people in healthcare are humans too and make mistakes. Unfortuantely, these mistakes are life changing.
I work in the healthcare field and trust me HMO sucks!! Kaiser is known as KILLER KAISER...they hire staff aren't certified by the state. (not all of them obviously) Doctors aren't getting paid what they used to...after so many years of their lives dedicated to school, they wanna paid..you would too...however this is such a tragic story.

[Sara Lira]

10:00 PM on 01/10/2011

This is what I personally believe... If you have the medical knowledge and you have an honest desire to help people why not help the sick for free or for a very low price? I know Medical school is though and expensive but once you have the knowledge how much effort is it to see a couple of patients and have a free clinic? I know I would do it. I want to go to medical school and I'd never leave a patient sick and dying just because they have no money! It's outrageous. If you have the knowledge share it, don't charge for it, use your gift to help others.

[alongst]

08:42 AM on 01/11/2011

A recent study shows that the average doctor provides $1,000 a year in charity care and has to write of about $80,000 a year in bad debts ( which the IRS does not allow us to deuct from our taxes ). The average primary care doctor has to see 30 patients a day in their office just to break even with their cost of running a practice , what they see after that is what they get paid. Then throw in $200,000 in school debt to be paid off.
Thats after your 34% income tax and 14.5% Self employment taxes.
Thats why. Yet they still provide a lot of charity care.

[alongst]

08:43 AM on 01/11/2011

Sorry- that's supposed to say provides $41,000 in charity care...

[innerpuppie]

12:41 AM on 02/17/2011

I understand what you are saying, I truly do, however, I've not seen many doctors who are getting their weeks' groceries at a food bank. They do make above average incomes and live lives that are very comfortable.

[Leanne Emery Mosgrove]

08:48 PM on 01/10/2011

I live in Canada, and it's pretty much the same here. Our government takes from our health care, and leaves all us tax payers with nothing. Yet come voting time their lies and deceit are forth coming. I'm so sorry for the Jeffers. I will donate what I can. It's time the Dr.'s and nurses stopped caring about what is right for the hospital and started thinking about the patients. What ever happened to "caring for your fellow man". It got lost in bureaucracy. Our Dr.'s and nurses leave our country for better pay in the U.S.of A. Nice! Not.

[Julie Gueraseva]

06:33 PM on 01/10/2011

Beyond horrific. Enraging. America's health care system is in utter disrepair, and these are the consequences. Callous emergency room staff, bureaucracy, greed. If only this was an isolated incident. That poor child. This is medical malpractice as far as I'm concerned and I hope the parents take that hospital to task for their utter failure to provide emergency care.

[alongst]

08:44 AM on 01/11/2011

To you and Leanne above- med schools are open to all. Apply now and be part of the solution.

[CDRUSNret]

06:11 PM on 01/11/2011

yep, because we are all equal under god and equally prepared to be doctors and emergency room nurses. high school dropouts....be part of the solution!

[Fredday]

06:00 PM on 01/10/2011

I wouldn't have waited 5hrs to start yelling. I'm not blaming the dad, I'm just saying I personally wouldn't have waited that long. Not even close.

[Fredday]

05:57 PM on 01/10/2011

To those of you who dump on HMO's. . . .allow me. I live in Sacramento and I'm a member of Kaiser Permenente HMO. Have been for almost 20 years.

My daughter, when she was younger would wake us up in the middle of the night barking. Her tonsils would swell up so bad that her throat would close up so badly that you couldn't have fit your pinky into the hole that was left for her to breath through.

3 times over the course of a year this happened in the middle of the night. We'd call an ambulance, they'd transport her to Kaiser's ER on Eureka Road where upen arrival they IMMEDIATELY began treatment to get the swelling down and get her some relief. There was never once any waiting even with a full emergency room on one occassion. She wasnt' dying. It was life threatening as it was just the result of swollen tonsils.

After the third trip to the ER, the doctor recommended her tonsils be removed. We took her in one morning for the surgery, she was out by lunch and didnt stay in the hospital at all.
Did I mention that the ER Visits were $50 and the surgery was a whopping $20 co pay? Add to that, when we had our daughter it cost us $10. . .and she and her mother were in the hospital for a week after she was born. $10. . . .TEN DOLLARS. And no, I'm not rich.

[Fredday]

06:10 PM on 01/10/2011

Ran out of space in the above post.

There were 2 other incidents with the above problem where we took our daughter into the hospital ourselves and we still didnt have to wait.

[sf76]

11:12 PM on 01/10/2011

My suicidal friend at the Sacramento Kaiser was denied the cost of an emergency 5150 psychiatric hospital inpatient stay, and when directed to a phone line for mental referrals, was told to simply stop listening to her mother's advice to seek treatment. Kaiser lags so far behind on mental health. It cost my friend her life. She asked for help from them, and they refused coverage. Don't tell me that Kaiser HMO is effective! It is a machine, just like anything else, without concern for people- only for the dollar. Tonsilectomies and pregnancies have to be covered, but if there's a way for them to not cover something-- trust me-- you'd better be prepared! Hopefully your child doesn't ever need anything unusual there.

[Cynthia Boyer]

04:38 PM on 02/23/2011

Kaiser varies by location. I haven't had them for years, but when I was with the Redwood City, CA one, and would get pneumonia every winter I couldn't get an appointment with my primary care doc. The triage phone nurse always said take tylenol and drink lots of fluids as everyone is sick with a cold or the flu right now. So I would wait until night and go to the emergency room where the doc would chew me out for not seeing my primary care doc.

Then when I moved to Southern CA it was completely different. My doc there didn't just continue the meds I was on, but actually ordered a bunch of tests to make sure that I should have been on them. He also was available for me to come in when I got migraines to get injections. No urgent care, short wait time. It was a completely different experience.

[Gigi 01]

04:50 AM on 01/10/2011

This makes me so sad . I can't believe Americas healthcare system is so bad.

[kaib57]

07:38 PM on 01/09/2011

Our healthcare system is a mess and yet the Republicans want to repeal healthcare reform.

[alongst]

04:41 PM on 01/10/2011

Only in America ?
Try Canada- there have been a lot of stories coming out of there of people dying in the waiting rooms.

[MJinCanada]

11:11 PM on 03/03/2011

A lot? Do you have links?

[kaib57]

07:34 PM on 01/09/2011

I hope they sue the hospital, not only for the cost of their bungled care, but for the lifetime of care this poor child will need. I hope there is a VERY good malpractice attorney willing to take this case on for them.

[VanTroi]

01:42 AM on 01/10/2011

willing? I'm sure they are rushing to take this case.

[alongst]

04:42 PM on 01/10/2011

I'm sure there is a huge flock of them throwing their cards at the family, promising to make them millions ( they get 50%)

[Hurlock]

03:20 PM on 01/09/2011

Is there any other country - claiming to be civilized - in which a 2 year old child is made to wait 5 hours in emergency? ONLY IN AMERICA!!

Could it be that her type are considered expendable? Or is it that the health-care system needs a purge or a complete revolution?

As I think of it, the only hands I would trust to manage the nation's health care in a fair, honest and sensible manner for ALL people is the Salvation Army. No, I have NO connection with them - even to the point of making most of my charitable contributions through other channels - but I do trust them more than most other large organizations. (The others I trust are too small for such a job.)

[Fredday]

06:08 PM on 01/10/2011

Its pa.thet.ic isn't it? The right wants to yap about "Waiting lists" and "waiting in line" for care. Well, this is America, what do we call a 5hr wait for an infant dying?

[Sara Lira]

10:02 PM on 01/10/2011

Hey even in Mexico they'll see you in less than 5 hours. You might come out worse but hey at least they will treat you.