ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — A local mother says her son was denied medical attention while in the Allegheny County Jail and his issues lingered so long that he needed surgery.
Daimar Humphries’s mother said her son sat at the Allegheny County Jail begging for medical attention for more than a month. This week, his charge was withdrawn. He was released and went to the hospital where they told him his hand was infected and he would need to see a surgeon.
“I couldn’t sleep for like, three to four days,” Daimar Humphries said.
Daimar Humphries, 20, was arrested on Jan. 4. His charge was withdrawn this week. He was not convicted of a crime but sat in the Allegheny County Jail for weeks with an infected hand begging for help.
“When I was able to see my son’s finger on a video visit, my baby’s hand was blue,” Dionnetre Humphries, Daimar’s mother, said.
Humphries mother a nurse said the injury was preventable and began as a small cut and then a blood clot, but unable to get medical attention it grew worse daily.
“I’m calling, they are hanging up on me, they are answering the calls, they are being nasty to me, and I am asking them, ‘If this was your child, how would you feel?” she said.
On Thursday, he was released from jail. He was able to see a doctor and was told he had contracted MRSA and may need surgery.
Channel 11 News reached out to the jail to see why his medical attention was delayed, but they declined to comment. But members of the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board say this highlights an ongoing problem inside the jail.
“He was held pre-trial, and the charges were withdrawn, and he will possibly suffer for the rest of his life. I think to highlight injustice and inadequacies of the Allegheny County Jail,” said MAN-E, a newly elected member of the Jail Oversight Board.
Currently, the Allegheny County Jail does not have a permanent medical director, and according to the warden’s most recent report, there are 91 vacancies in the medical department:
Total county vacancies: 83
Total AHN vacancies: 8
Total vacancies: 91
The jail said this is 55% vacancies, but with contracted personnel included, the vacancy rate is 16.5%.
These rates are something this family says needs to change.
“I want this to stop not just for my son, but there are a lot of families in there that have loved ones who love them,” Humphries said.
The jail oversight board plans to meet on March 7 to discuss this matter further. That meeting will take place on the fourth floor inside of the courthouse. To register for public comment, click here.
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