Quadriplegic Woman Dies After Prolonged Wait for Medical Care in Cyprus

A quadriplegic woman tragically died following an eight-hour wait for medical attention at Larnaca General Hospital, raising serious concerns about negligence in the healthcare system.

• A quadriplegic woman tragically died following an eight-hour wait for medical attention at Larnaca General Hospital, raising serious concerns about negligence in the healthcare system.

Demetris Lambrianides, president of the Cyprus Paraplegic Organisation, has alleged that the 62-year-old patient was not attended to for hours after arriving at the Accident and Emergency Department. According to Lambrianides, the woman was admitted at 8:30 on a Monday morning but did not see a doctor until eight hours later, only after her relatives pressed for immediate care.

The patient’s medical history included a rare form of progressive myelopathy, which warranted prompt attention. After the lengthy wait, a pulmonology resident finally examined her, but by then her condition had worsened significantly.

Following her examination, the woman was admitted to the Pulmonology Clinic the next afternoon, but her health continued to decline. Overnight, she suffered a cardiac arrest and was moved to the Intensive Care Unit. It was during this transfer that family members were informed that she had been without oxygen for over 20 minutes, leading to serious damage to her vital organs.

Lambrianides expressed frustration over the lack of communication from the hospital regarding the exact cause of death and how her condition deteriorated so rapidly. The family remains in the dark about critical details surrounding her passing.

In a poignant social media post, Lambrianides questioned the systemic issues within the healthcare system, stating, “How was her life torturously lost within GHS, in a European country? In a rich, generous health system without the required/necessary safety and quality for patients?” He lamented the unacceptable reality of emergency departments where patients face waits of at least eight hours.

This incident has ignited a broader conversation about the quality and efficiency of healthcare services in Cyprus, particularly for vulnerable populations. Advocates are calling for immediate reforms to ensure that similar tragedies do not occur in the future.