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No kicking bucket!
JENNIFER PRESCOD outside her canteen with “dead man” Reynzill Scantlebury. Here, she holds up her canteen credit lists where she kept a log of events as they happened.
Published on: 11/5/2009.
by MELISSA ROLLOCK
PROPRIETRESS JENNIFER PRESCOD has put her reputation on the line by standing behind Reynzill Lorenzo Scantlebury and his claims that he woke up in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s morgue.
Prescod, who runs a canteen in Green Hill, St Michael, told the WEEKEND NATION she believed Scantlebury beyond a shadow of a doubt because he had “no reason to lie”.
“I’ve known ‘Bucket’ (we call him Bucket because he always carries one to wash cars) for more than a year now. He comes here, gets his breakfast, lunch and any little money he needs until he gets his welfare cheques.
“When he gets those, he pays who he owes, pays his rent and pays me something towards his credit. If I need a bag of ice, he will go for it . . . anything. And he would always come and talk to me. He has no reason to lie,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
Scantlebury alleges that he woke up in a dark room that was “black and cold” after suffering an epileptic seizure, but was hazy as to the exact date.
He claimed he kicked until whatever he was in slid out “like a drawer”. After this, he said, he walked out of the morgue and into the night wearing only a disposable diaper and pyjama bottoms.
The hospital management on Monday initially denied in a radio broadcast that Scantlebury was ever in the hospital. However, chief executive officer Dr Dexter James in a later broadcast did say that Scantlebury was treated in the Accident & Emergency Department on (Sunday) September 20, 2009 and released the next day.
Prescod, who had heard her friend was dead, was shocked when he turned up at her canteen on Tuesday, September 22, looking frail and worn, wearing a diaper and pyjama bottoms.
“As I said, when I got here the Monday, I was told that Bucket died because he had collapsed the Sunday. The ambulance and the Task Force was around him.
“The Tuesday morning he came here with the hospital band on [his hand] and we said, ‘But we thought you dead’ and he said, ‘I walked out the morgue’. I am so sorry he threw away the arm band.
“That morning I gave him eggs, biscuits, a pack of [Wibisco] Soda biscuits and some drink and he sat and ate them, but he took so long.
“I told him to go home and sleep because the medication was still in his body.
“So when I heard there was no record of him being at the hospital, I said to myself, something wrong. So that was when I called Mr Babb [at Starcom Network],” she recalled.
Prescod said she even made notes on her canteen credit lists which she showed to the WEEKEND NATION.
On the list, dated Monday September 21, 2009, she scribbled at the bottom of the page: “Heard Bucket died”. On the other, dated Tuesday, September 22, she wrote: “Bucket alive and ok”.
The canteen owner challenged management at the hospital to prove Scantlebury wrong by taking him back to the morgue.
“Take him back there with a lawyer and the media, put him in a drawer and let him kick his way out. Or even get the mortician or whoever was in the morgue that night to disprove that such an event took place.
“Better yet, show the media footage from the closed circuit cameras from that night to show it didn’t happen. All this they can do, but they have not.
“People are saying all sorts of things. I even hear somebody say this time the BLP [Barbados Labour Party] set him up to do this to embarrass the Government.
“But it is nothing like that. He said he was in [the morgue]. And his story hasn’t changed in any way, and he has told it countless times to different people.
“I figure if he was telling lies, the story would change each time he told it.”
This week Scantlebury provided the pyjama bottoms and used diaper he claimed he wore when he walked out of the morgue to the WEEKEND NATION to be photographed.
He said up to the time he collapsed that Sunday, he was wearing a khaki pants “with pockets” and a dark-blue shirt. He added that since he went public with his claims, he had received threats and endured many sleepless nights.
“I didn’t pay them much mind at first, but I haven’t slept good since I got them because I frighten. I’m afraid if I shut my eyes to go to sleep I might not get back up,” he said.
Last Friday, the QEH’s communications specialist Katrinah Best said the hospital’s Medical Records Department did not have a record of a Reynzill Scantlebury, but of another man, also a Scantlebury, whose first name was close to his and who had Lorenzo as a middle name.
“The man we have on record was aged 49 and he died on one of the ‘C’ wards on October 4. On that same day, he was taken to the morgue, and taken out of hospital by the funeral home on October 9.
“We don’t have any record of a Reynzill Lorenzo Scantlebury aged 46 on record,” said Best.
At the request of the hospital, the NATION has withheld the first name of the 49-year-old deceased man out of respect for his family and will continue to do so.
However, it was confirmed that the funeral for the deceased Scantlebury was handled by Earl’s Funeral Home last month.
Attempts to verify with the Royal Barbados Police Force’s Task Force that Scantlebury was indeed taken to hospital by ambulance when he collapsed, were not successful.
Hospital management said in a statement on Wednesday following a meeting with the staff responsible for managing the morgue, that it was improbable that Scantlebury walked out of the morgue because of the “stringent” security measures there.
PROPRIETRESS JENNIFER PRESCOD has put her reputation on the line by standing behind Reynzill Lorenzo Scantlebury and his claims that he woke up in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s morgue.
Prescod, who runs a canteen in Green Hill, St Michael, told the WEEKEND NATION she believed Scantlebury beyond a shadow of a doubt because he had “no reason to lie”.
“I’ve known ‘Bucket’ (we call him Bucket because he always carries one to wash cars) for more than a year now. He comes here, gets his breakfast, lunch and any little money he needs until he gets his welfare cheques.
“When he gets those, he pays who he owes, pays his rent and pays me something towards his credit. If I need a bag of ice, he will go for it . . . anything. And he would always come and talk to me. He has no reason to lie,” she said in an interview on Wednesday.
Scantlebury alleges that he woke up in a dark room that was “black and cold” after suffering an epileptic seizure, but was hazy as to the exact date.
He claimed he kicked until whatever he was in slid out “like a drawer”. After this, he said, he walked out of the morgue and into the night wearing only a disposable diaper and pyjama bottoms.
The hospital management on Monday initially denied in a radio broadcast that Scantlebury was ever in the hospital. However, chief executive officer Dr Dexter James in a later broadcast did say that Scantlebury was treated in the Accident & Emergency Department on (Sunday) September 20, 2009 and released the next day.
Prescod, who had heard her friend was dead, was shocked when he turned up at her canteen on Tuesday, September 22, looking frail and worn, wearing a diaper and pyjama bottoms.
“As I said, when I got here the Monday, I was told that Bucket died because he had collapsed the Sunday. The ambulance and the Task Force was around him.
“The Tuesday morning he came here with the hospital band on [his hand] and we said, ‘But we thought you dead’ and he said, ‘I walked out the morgue’. I am so sorry he threw away the arm band.
“That morning I gave him eggs, biscuits, a pack of [Wibisco] Soda biscuits and some drink and he sat and ate them, but he took so long.
“I told him to go home and sleep because the medication was still in his body.
“So when I heard there was no record of him being at the hospital, I said to myself, something wrong. So that was when I called Mr Babb [at Starcom Network],” she recalled.
Prescod said she even made notes on her canteen credit lists which she showed to the WEEKEND NATION.
On the list, dated Monday September 21, 2009, she scribbled at the bottom of the page: “Heard Bucket died”. On the other, dated Tuesday, September 22, she wrote: “Bucket alive and ok”.
The canteen owner challenged management at the hospital to prove Scantlebury wrong by taking him back to the morgue.
“Take him back there with a lawyer and the media, put him in a drawer and let him kick his way out. Or even get the mortician or whoever was in the morgue that night to disprove that such an event took place.
“Better yet, show the media footage from the closed circuit cameras from that night to show it didn’t happen. All this they can do, but they have not.
“People are saying all sorts of things. I even hear somebody say this time the BLP [Barbados Labour Party] set him up to do this to embarrass the Government.
“But it is nothing like that. He said he was in [the morgue]. And his story hasn’t changed in any way, and he has told it countless times to different people.
“I figure if he was telling lies, the story would change each time he told it.”
This week Scantlebury provided the pyjama bottoms and used diaper he claimed he wore when he walked out of the morgue to the WEEKEND NATION to be photographed.
He said up to the time he collapsed that Sunday, he was wearing a khaki pants “with pockets” and a dark-blue shirt. He added that since he went public with his claims, he had received threats and endured many sleepless nights.
“I didn’t pay them much mind at first, but I haven’t slept good since I got them because I frighten. I’m afraid if I shut my eyes to go to sleep I might not get back up,” he said.
Last Friday, the QEH’s communications specialist Katrinah Best said the hospital’s Medical Records Department did not have a record of a Reynzill Scantlebury, but of another man, also a Scantlebury, whose first name was close to his and who had Lorenzo as a middle name.
“The man we have on record was aged 49 and he died on one of the ‘C’ wards on October 4. On that same day, he was taken to the morgue, and taken out of hospital by the funeral home on October 9.
“We don’t have any record of a Reynzill Lorenzo Scantlebury aged 46 on record,” said Best.
At the request of the hospital, the NATION has withheld the first name of the 49-year-old deceased man out of respect for his family and will continue to do so.
However, it was confirmed that the funeral for the deceased Scantlebury was handled by Earl’s Funeral Home last month.
Attempts to verify with the Royal Barbados Police Force’s Task Force that Scantlebury was indeed taken to hospital by ambulance when he collapsed, were not successful.
Hospital management said in a statement on Wednesday following a meeting with the staff responsible for managing the morgue, that it was improbable that Scantlebury walked out of the morgue because of the “stringent” security measures there.
32 comment found!
to doubtful canadian : 11/6/2009
Did you not read the first publicated story!Back from the dead the man said he woke up the freezer and he was real cold
: 11/6/2009
If only the family of the other Scantlebury or some one from the Funeral Home would come forward and shed some light ..........
: 11/6/2009
If only the family of the other Scantlebury or some one from the Funeral Home cwould come forward and shed some light ..........
READ AGAIN. : 11/6/2009
jENKINS, read again or learn to read and understand what ya read. Scantlebury never said he pelt the toe tag the morrtician. Read again.
I Believe Bucket!! : 11/6/2009
To the doubtful-Canadian. My grandmother was place in the hospital morgue early night, the family did not get to see her until late the next morning. When the draw was pulled out my grandmother was still as warm as if she had just died. So my friend speak on what you know about Canada and not what you assumed happened in Barbados. Atlanta Georgia
: 11/6/2009
Response to doubtful-Canadian. Why do you think he asked the man dresses in white that was eating for a blanket; he said that he was very cold; and he also said that when he got out of the drawer he threw the toe tag and the man because he did not give him a blanket which he asked for. Did you miss that?
: 11/6/2009
There is no doubt about this. The QEH are not being totally honest. I wonder if Scantlebury was white and a somebody if the QEH would have continued to treat him like a nobody. And threatening the man for telling the truth. Who the heck is treatening this man? There has to be some truth to this man's story; since QEH do not want to test there purports of "improbable and stringent security measures". Some body is trying to cover their a... and it certainly ain't Scantlebury.
Doubtful Canadian : 11/6/2009
You should reread all the articles printed so far."Back from the dead" he stated that he woke up in a dark and cold place and ask the man sitting there eating for a blanket and the man ignored him. So I don't know how you can say that he never mention the cold. Pay more attention to what you read before making your comments. I do believe him. The QEH just needs to admit to the truth. That is all everyone want to know. I am sorry to hear what happened to Mr. Scantlebury, but one day the truth shall be relieve. Bajan Canadian in Alberta
No kicking bucket! : 11/6/2009
Enough of this already, QEH has made many mistakes before so why suddenly is the public worrying about something that the Hosptal Management or staff don't care about. The Current Party what are they doing for the people of Barbados? so this is minor. He is alive let the other family put their family member to rest and leave at that....
No Kicking Bucket : 11/6/2009
EVERY BODY WANT A REALITY SHOW LATELY,WANNA GOT DE NATION GETTING LIKE DE ENQUIRER ."DO,A BEG WANNA GET THIS ONE STRAIGHT YESTERDAY IT WAS I PELT DE TAG AT DE MORTICIAN AND TODAY DE TAG APPEAR WHEN DE CANTEEN WOMAN SEE YOU.BEFORE HE MEET A WOMAN ON DE ROAD AND ASK FOR SOMETHING TO EAT BUT YA DID NOT MENTION THIS LADY HOW COME YA FIND OUT WHO SHE WAS A WEEK LATER."LOOK THIS STORY SOUND MIX UP NOW I WAS BELEIVING HIM FOR A MINUTE BUT IT GOT MY HEAD A LITTLE TWISTED HERE . READER PLEASE READ THE STORY FROM THE BEGINING ,SOMETHING NOT RIGHT .MR SCANTLERBURY I WILL HOPE THAT DE ICE FROM FRIDGE IN DE MORGUE GOT YOU CONFUSED AND YOU INT MAKING THIS UP CAUSE YA IN GIN GET NA REALITY SHOW IN BARBADOS LIKE DE BALLOON BOY YA WOULD HAVE TO GO TO HOLLYWOOD. GOOD LUCK THAT IS A MILLION DOLLAR LAW SUIT AND ONE IN REALITY SHOW. JENKINS OVER TAKE QEH
Morgues : 11/6/2009
Getting out of morgues are not impossible. Right here in the US where I am, it has happened and have scared the daylights out of the mortician. The QEH needs to do a thorough investigation and if this really happened own up to the facts. It's very hard for me to believe that this man would get up out of his bed one morning and make up a story such as this one.
Kicking bucket. : 11/6/2009
Enough. enough: Time to put this madness to rest. How about a Polygraph test for Bucket and all of those involved. This should be a challange for the CEO at the QEH. How about it Mr CEO? I am leaning towards Scantlebury.His foot was never on the Bucket.
: 11/6/2009
If a BUCKET go down in a well every day one day the bottom is going to drop out ,soon the truth will be known, or like other matters will be forgotten. Then that too shall pass way. No pun intended! Concern Bajan!
No Kicking Bucket : 11/6/2009
This story seems very much like someone at the QEH trying to cover their behinds over a gross mistake. As Ms. Prescod said, what about the security footage from that night since there is such "stringent" security measures in place. Mr. Scantlebury has told his story repeatedly without any deviation and I have a feeling he is telling the truth. Can someone just own up to the error and make sure something like this never happens again...
No kicking bucket! : 11/6/2009
If you wake up naked in a dark/cold morgue the first thing that is going to get your attention is the COooooold. at 32 degrees you will remember the cold. This is missing from his story. I want to see him get his just rewards but i cannot see how he miss the cold, Especially a Bajan. For me the cold will be the first thing out of my mouth. [Canadian] How did HOUDINI get out of a drawer,body bag, then open the fridge door and walk out? If his story is true then heads should roll. [in doubt]
LETS PUT EVERTHING ON THE TABLE : 11/6/2009
There probably have been times when people looked at Mr. Scantlebury and couldn't even muster the decency to see him as a human being. In spite of it all, this gentleman probably went about his life in a simple, unassuming way. Moreover, even under the circumstances of his ill health and less than desired lifestyle, it appears that Mr. Scantlebury never blamed anyone for his situation in life. His telling of the incident about being in the morgue was probably told by him without any malice or ulterior motives. It would be a damn shame if people know that his story is true yet try to make him out as some sort of idiot or madman and unforgivably try to take away his dignity.
Cover up : 11/6/2009
I beleieve this story and as for the stringent security measures at the hospital, that is also bull. If it was so stringent my cousin's body would not have been sodomized in the morgue. The management at the hospital needs to fired and efficient and effective personnel hired instead because they all seem to be lost.
No kicking bucket : 11/6/2009
I believe there are many more stories, that are similiar. They will surface eventually. Not Surprised
dead man walking : 11/6/2009
how dumb can some people be. is the government to blame if for this. it is the sad that mr scantlebury is being threaten.why would people be mad at the victim.wake up people this had nothing to do with politics.blame the doctors and staff not the poor man.barbadians are looked at as being smart so stop acting like jackasses.get to the bottom of this and make sure it never happen again.and remember everything isnt political.
LMAO : 11/6/2009
"I am so sorry he threw away the arm band."...Ummhmmm "Or even get the mortician or whoever was in the morgue that night to disprove that such an event took place. ".....No No, the burden of proof is on Bucket to show that it did exist. Finally, just because you write some notes on a sheet of paper for your friend/paying customer at your stall doesn't mean that u didn't write on that page 5 minutes before the reporter arrived. Yuh mussee feel we born yesterday!
No Kicking Bucket : 11/6/2009
Man, one man is 49 years old, 'Bucket' is 46 years old....man, they took a 6 for a 9!!!!! So who did Earl's Funeral Home bury? Toronto Bajan
morgue mystries : 11/6/2009
i'm confuse but i do believe there is some truth about it but we're dealing with the government/hospital.if it aint true show the footage or recordings of that night n hope scantlebury can get representation from some laywer but who like to go up against the crown not much lawyers would do.this is a very serious matter and could happen to anyone one of us.doctors have prescribe wrong medicine or operations have failed cause doctors was in a bad mood or jus damn right careless and persons have suffered by deaf.hope someone could really investigate this with urgency and not the hospital officials cause they would totally deny it.
No 'stringent' Security : 11/6/2009
I have been to the QEH countless times and anyone who ever been there after 11pm or 12am (late night) knows that it's like a ghost town in there.
: 11/6/2009
Please go away, enough already. 246
HELP...NO KICKING BUCKET!! : 11/6/2009
I am getting really tired of this story.. Can someone own up to the truth??? Pleaseeeee!! If a mistake was made by the QEH.. please officials, admit it. God is looking down and he seem to be the only one who knows the truth...whoever is telling the lie will pay dearly on judgement day...This is serious... If you were never in the drawer, never declared dead, never walked out of the morgue except in your dreams, please admit it Mr. Scantlebury. I really don't know who to believe at this point. Few people are backing up your story.. Sorry to say but I think those Government people will stick together with their story..You don't have a leg to stand on if you do not get the proof and witnesses you need like NOW!! Find that Mortician.. He is your only hope... BAJAN IN BOSTON
Improbable though not impossible : 11/6/2009
Hopefully QEH will learn from this experience the importance of proper records maintenance and management. Errors occur from time to time in any health care system, if they go unacknowledged then they may occur in the future and opportunities for improvement in the system are missed. Improbability does not mean impossibility.
TELL US : 11/6/2009
FORSALEE1 here we have one side of the story with evidence. Q.E.H. we are awaiting the other side to disclaim his story bring the evidence as well. where is the mortician? where is the close circuit video? are you manufacturing edvidence, erasing vedio, muzzling staff? why are you taking so long to get to us with proof. you say what the procedures are but where there follow
COME CLEAN : 11/6/2009
For God's sake whosoever is not telling the truth in this matter, please come clean, after all none is perfect and mistakes do happen. Publc anxieties and confidence must be restored.THE TRUTH SHOULD BE REVEALED.
Give me a break! : 11/6/2009
Give me a break you all really think there are all of this stringent security there? They cannot even get the hospital wards or casuality to run properly with living folks futher more the morgue with dead bodies.I somhow believe the man. Lots of crap go on that. Concern Bajan!
Dead man alive : 11/6/2009
Anything is possible. The hospital need to carry out an investigation and stop denying this incident happening. Stringent security measures are put in place to protect the Queen of England but intruders have entered Buckingham Palace and entered her bedroom. So if this is possible anything is in QEH. The hospital needs to be sorted out - I read an article about people having sex with bodies in the morgue in this same hospital. where was the security then? The hospital does not have enough staff and many are rude to visitors and unprofessional. Dead people are left in the ward hours after dying and if the ill and imfirm have no relatives to come and feed them the food is taken away. This is what is going on in Barbados in 2009. The sad thing is with the level of unemployment in Barbados - can volunteer workers not be recruited and paid expenses for travel. I love Barbados and would like to emigrate one day but not with one hospital and the conditions. I believe there is some truth in this mans story. It may be distorted slightly by his illness and the event in question. In all walks of life I find too much covering up and denial. This does not help. Why not come clean apologise and change for the better? This man has all rights to take action against the hospital contrary to comments on the previous article. Poor people have feelings and emotions too not only the rich. My last point - Which funeral home did the Scanterbury whose body was buried use - two different ones are been mentioned while covering this matter?
CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHA KINDA MADNESS THIS : 11/6/2009
EVERY BODY WANT A REALITY SHOW LATELY,WANNA GOT DE NATION GETTING LIKE DE ENQUIRER ."DO,A BEG WANNA GET THIS ONE STRAIGHT YESTERDAY IT WAS I PELT DE TAG AT DE MORTICIAN AND TODAY DE TAG APPEAR WHEN DE CANTEEN WOMAN SEE YOU.BEFORE HE MEET A WOMAN ON DE ROAD AND ASK FOR SOMETHING TO EAT BUT YA DID NOT MENTION THIS LADY HOW COME YA FIND OUT WHO SHE WAS A WEEK LATER."LOOK THIS STORY SOUND MIX UP NOW I WAS BELEIVING HIM FOR A MINUTE BUT IT GOT MY HEAD A LITTLE TWISTED HERE . READER PLEASE READ THE STORY FROM THE BEGINING ,SOMETHING NOT RIGHT .MR SCANTLERBURY I WILL HOPE THAT DE ICE FROM FRIDGE IN DE MORGE GOT YOU CONFUSED AND YOU INT MAKING THIS UP CAUSE YA IN GIN GET NA REALITY SHOW IN BARBADOS LIKE DE BALLOON BOY YA WOULD HAVE TO GO TO HOLLYWOOD. GOOD LUCK THAT IS A MILLION DOLLAR LAW SUIT AND ONE IN REALITY SHOW.
QEH BE CAREFUL"NOW " : 11/6/2009
I dont think this poor man lying because how come the hospital dont want to reveal the other man infro that die, this is not like the QEH, this is strange. i beleive this happen something fishy with the hospital they should let the next man family come foward to say yes my relative of this name diejust to clear the air but they cannot do this if there is no motive . you know what the truth shall be reveal."QEH this can be the start of law suit in BARBADOS for MALPRATICE and them you guys will be more careful than careless".
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