D’Andre Hicks and his mother, Alishia Hicks, are speaking out about a troubling experience that went down at a K-12 school in Boston, Massachusetts.
The incident unfolded earlier this month at the Henderson Inclusion School. After D’Andre — a 17-year-old junior at the institution — complained about feeling “weak” and “numb” to the school nurse, they proceeded to call Alishia and ask her to pick up her son.
However, Alishia, who is wheelchair-bound, urged the nurse to call 9-1-1, as the mother recognized that her son may have been having a stroke.
“Listen there’s a small vessel problem on my mother’s side of the family that causes a stroke easily if there’s any blockage,” she recalled telling the nurse. “It is so important to get him to the hospital right away because he could die.”
“Your professional eye may not see the stroke. It’s not visible, but if he’s telling you he is weak on his left side, please, at this point I’m pleading with all intensity that I could muster up with no voice. Please get my son to the hospital, please,” Alishia added.
In spite of the mother‘s plea, the nurse was unmoved and kept arguing with Alishia as D’Andre continued suffering a stroke.
“They start arguing with her on that while I’m out here stroking on the bed right now trying to stay up,” he noted. “I was afraid that if I fell asleep or something like that, I was going to go into a coma or probably for the worst.”
The teen’s mother, who is wheelchair-bound, is furious, asking why the school nurse did not recognize the signs of his health failing when the boy complained about feeling tired and his side felt numb.https://t.co/tjpKyBXHbI
— 70sBaby🇺🇸 (@ANGIEDEE70baby) May 18, 2022
Additionally, instead of calling 9-1-1, the school nurse contacted the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF). Shortly after that, 9-1-1 was called, and paramedics took D’Andre to a nearby hospital.
Doctors were able to get the stroke under control with medication, and the 17-year-old was hospitalized for two days.
However, he’s still having trouble walking after the stroke, and he has not yet returned to school.
“He’s not happy about the school right now. He doesn’t feel safe there,” Alishia shared. “His words when he was in the hospital, he said, ‘Mom, I can’t believe they didn’t believe me.'”
It’s currently unclear if the family is considering filing a civil rights lawsuit against the district.
A district spokesperson spoke on the incident, alleging that an investigation was underway.
“Our concern is first with the health and well-being of this student. We are glad to hear he is recovering well,” the spokesperson said. “This serious incident is being reviewed by appropriate BPS staff, and, therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further on this specific matter.”
It’s also worth adding that Alishia believes the incident is a blatant example of medical racism.
The American Bar Association recently touched on the larger issue in a recent study titled “Implicit Bias and Racial Disparities in Health Care.”
“Black people simply are not receiving the same quality of health care that their white counterparts receive,” researchers note.
