Health Horror Stories
"These stories of health abuse are not independently verified by the editors of this website. However, all of the women have agreed to a HIPPA release to any qualified attorney willing to take their case, or to an investigative reporter from the media."
Thank you – Public pressure works once more.
We won the mattress war! (Read the original story here.)
Thanks to readers, families, and friends writing and calling, medical mattresses have been restored to the elderly. No more bruised hips.
“Letter From A Dead Woman”
( a letter passed to us—names of medical personnel deleted for this post. We have no way of verifying, but this woman has a right to her opinion.)
“Letter From A Dead Woman”
My name was Debra R, but Perryville saw me as a number. I died on Jan. 11, 2020, while in Lumley unit. I was incarcerated for shoplifting and received a 2-year sentence. Little did I know I had signed my death warrant.
The journey to my death bed began Thursday, Jan. 9th. At about 7:30 pm I experienced a sharp pain on the right side of my abdomen, and it was immediate. Shortly after that I had my first seizure and hit the back of my head on the cement. A guard witnessed this and called a medical emergency.
Nurse F. checked my vitals and my bp was 60/33, at which time I had another seizure. This “nurse” sent me back to the yard with diagnosis—U.T.I. On the way back I lost bladder and bowel control with my third seizure on Lumley’s main yard. I was escorted back to C yard cold, soiled, humiliated, and very tired. I have never had epilepsy, although I was taking meds for hypertension, so the low bp was unusual.
That night in my cell I couldn’t’ sleep because of the constant pain. At 9 am Friday I was shuttled to medical again for a bp check. While there I informed the nurse that I had vomited and could not even keep water down. This went on deaf ears and I was sent back to the yard. I received more care from my fellow inmates than medical, as they gave me crackers and broth to rehydrate me. All I did was moan and try to rest.
Saturday morning I felt much worse. My roommate told me I was cold and clammy to the touch and urged me to go back to medical. This time the two nurses told me I was “faking and only wanted pain pills” (this is on camera) and they threatened me with a ticket. I think this is when I gave up my fight for life.
I realized these people didn’t care and I was subhuman to them. As they half-carried me back I collapsed on the stairs because my legs just gave out. That’s when I told my friends I just wanted to die to stop the pain. Unfortunately, I experienced another seizure and was thrown in a wheelchair for my last trip to medical. I sat in the cold for 45 minutes and during that time a kindly clergy prayed for me, however, this was interrupted by the nurse who said “who are you to make me wait?!”.
Of course, I was sent back to the yard without treatment. I was delirious with pain, in and out of consciousness, but I remember my friends told me they had gotten a hold of my dad (with no help from the DOC). The last light in my eyes shone with gratitude as they told me he loved me very much. In my cold pain, I felt a little peace and warmth. In my dimming world, I recognized I was vomiting again. At about 2:50 pm an inmate checked on me and I was unresponsive and barely breathing. The guards were summoned and they called medical. Before nurses could respond, a COII risked his job and called 911, I was in cardiac arrest. Lumley’s heart portables were not charged, so they wasted precious time going to storage to retrieve one. At 3:15 medical finally brought oxygen. 3:25 the ambulance and fire went through the gate.
I left prison on a red bodyboard, red foam coming out of my mouth. As a peaceful warmth enveloped me, my last earthly thought was “I hope I can forgive the people that murdered me.”
D.W. HERNANDEZ ABOLISHES EXTRA MATTRESS FOR THE INFIRM!
Received this directly from an elderly inmate.
“All of us in gray hair, some with hip replacements, wheelchairs, walkers, canes and elderly, were appalled when the officer stormed through San Carlos today taking our double mattresses. Our MEDICALLY APPROVED extra mattress. For the folks at home, a prison mattress resembles the kindergarten nap mat. We call it the “tortilla”. That is why medical issues chronos to allow 2 mattresses so that it cushions you from the cold, unyielding steel. Bear in mind this is NOT a Perryville wide, OR statewide mandate……this is Hernandez’s own rule. The officer explained that one green mattress= a double mattress. DON’T YOU BELIEVE IT! It’s as hard as a rock. The infirm and the elderly have it bad enough worried about Coronovirus, now they take our sleep away from us too!?! Everyone that reads this should phone and write in protest of this indignity to old women!”
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I was in prison for 17years and have seen so many people die in front of me It’s traumatic and I have PTSD from it. Medical never helped me for my heart problems, never took tests, just told me I have congested heart failure and didn’t do anything for me. I saw it every day. They never helped us, made us always feel like we were lying and would send us away. Making people work in the kitchen who have scoliosis, heart problems, people who have AIDS and Hep C as well as other STDs. There’s rat poop on our kitchen food, birds all over our trays that we eat off of making us all even sicker, black mold everywhere. We can’t breathe in our cells due to all the mold and crud in our walls, vents, and coolers. They are trying to kill us – they don’t care and the money they get for us does not go to us. There is so much more.
I’ve been sexually attacked by the CO police officers twice. I have my whole life to account for in there and I’m surprised I made it out after 17years. They have medium inmates on max yards getting assaulted and they don’t care. They say it is due to no room. They also send you to max yard as punishment without ever getting tickets. It’s all retaliation. They will ruin your life if you don’t do what they want. They make up lies, yep the sergeants, if you refuse to work because you don’t feel good. I heard a Sergeant say “Oh you’re going to hurt yourself” then cuff her up and put her in isolation when the girl never said it. I’ve seen it all, believe that.
Hi Cynthia! I’m not sure if you’ll see this but I am so sorry for what you went through. Thank you for sharing a glimpse of your story. I would love to ask you questions as I am exploring ideas for my doctoral capstone and am interested in issues in the AZ Women’s Prison. Is there any way we could talk further?
That was my friend 😭 she was cool ag and funny. I feel bad I had to leave San Carlos for Cruz. But fck their medical center, the whole prison is fucked up and corrupted. I’ve been out for 8 months now and I still remember everything like yesterday especially with health care. Like can the prison do an upgrade and fix their shit or will more ppl have to die like my friend here? It’s fucked up because I knew she was having a hard time in the beginning getting her shots. We both came from the same county. She wasn’t even a criminal like person. She was fun, bright and very smart, like she could’ve went to college. She had alot planned for herself…damn I love Jowell thank for the laughs and being a loyal friend. Rest in Paradise
Yeah, she was a very cool person to know. She would hug you when she saw you with a big smile. She was always cool to everyone, no hate or anger in her heart but she probably did towards ADOC health employees
I was incarcerated for 9 years and just released March 2024. In 2019, my stomach swelled up and I looked 9 months pregnant. They told me I had impacted stool and had me drink a laxative. The pain got worse, I couldn’t breath or walk and this went on for 2 months. My family contacted the ACLU and prison and finally in February 2020 I was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with Stage 3 Ovarian cancer. I was in the hospital for 10 days and started chemo. I went back to the prison and was expecting chemo every 3 weeks. It took over a 3 weeks for me to get scheduled for my next chemo. In May, I had just came back from chemo and was told I was packing up and being sent to San Carlos. I had to load and unload all of my belongings after a day of chemo and was being transferred to a yard with 1300 women. I then had surgery to remove the cancer in July and once released from the hospital was sent to Maria and put in a cell, by myself with no A/C. I had to move everything by myself and carry a chair out to take a shower. I had an incision from belly button to my pubic bone. Finally after 2 weeks, I was sent back to Carlos. I was told later that I had peritoneal cancer and not ovarian, after I had had a complete hysterectomy. I never had a follow up PET scan to make sure the cancer was gone. In March of 2023, I started seeing a new oncologist, Dr. Benjamin and he finally ordered a PET scan and saw that I had cancer again in the same area of my stomach. I had surgery again in May and started six rounds of chemo. Between the medical Dr’s John and Johnson my medical treatment at the prison was horrible. They didn’t give me anything but Tylenol and Excedrin for the pain and I had to fight to get an extra mattress and extra milk for protein shakes. If I didn’t have my family to support me and stand up for me I would have died. I applied for clemency 2 times and because I wasn’t dying in 3 months, I was refused. Something needs to change with the health system and prison.