An investigation is said to have been launched into the death of Arnott Hope, a fisherman who was shot in Pole Yard and later died at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH).
Family members say Hope was shot around 9 p.m. on Friday December 27th at his home in Pole Yard. He was rushed to the hospital where a surgery was done to correct injuries caused by the bullet to his left hip.
A relative said that although they were told that Hope was stable after the surgery, he died under suspicious circumstances. The relative said they were later told by someone close to the hospital that a pair of forceps were left inside Hope by the surgery team and that mistake seemed to have played a role in his death.
On Tuesday, an autopsy was carried out on Hope to ascertain the cause of death but up to press time, the findings of the autopsy were not revealed to family members.
The family has retained the services of lawyer Israel Bruce who told ANN on Tuesday that relatives are stressed by the death of the 58-year-old fisherman.
“The circumstances of the death are being looked at and once we get past the stage of dealing with the body and the family has resolved the issue of laying the remains to rest if there are other matters to be addressed we will address them in a timely fashion.
“Once they are through the initial phase, the media will be invited to engage him and the family members,” Bruce told ANN and other media outlets outside the mortuary.
Sandra Forbes, Hope’s niece and the person handling the funeral details, said that dealing with a dead relative is something new to her. She said she has been told by Bruce to not talk about the alleged forceps issue before they have the autopsy report.
Levi Browne, Hope’s brother, told ANN on Tuesday that he to has heard about the forceps but he is not sure if it is true that a surgeon forgot to the remove the tool from his brother.
He said this brother was a nice person who would do favors for people in Queen’s Drive anytime he came to visit him.
“I don’t have no idea why somebody would want to shoot him. I was hearing that they left something inside him but I not to sure if its rumors,” said Browne.
He said that he felt sad about his brother dying as he was not a troublesome person.
The MCMH is yet to release a statement on the issue but reports are that the surgeon was allegedly told that the forceps were missing after the surgery but refused to reopen the patient. An x-ray the day after the surgery is alleged to have revealed the forceps inside the patient.