Jamesetta Kugmeh finally died at JFK

Prior to her demise, the late Jamesetta Kugmeh had suspected foul play in her reported kidney failure and pleaded with family members to demand an autopsy on her body.

By: Emmanuel Wise Jipoh 

28-year-old Jamesetta Kugmeh has reportedly died after alleged medical malpractice at ELWA Hospital in Paynesville, family sources confirmed.

A relative of the deceased, only identified as Amos, told The NEW DAWN Tuesday, May 20, that Jamesetta succumbed to death at the John F. Kennedy Medical Hospital, briefly after returning from Ghana.

“Everything was well; she was recovering gradually, so we needed to bring her home, and then, she started complaining again, so we took her to the hospital; there she died this morning,” Amos revealed.

Reports emerged that the late Jamesetta, who was an expectant mother and a practicing nurse, had been battling for survival ever since she visited the ELWA hospital for what was supposed to be a routine delivery.

But she developed severe complications that changed everything, from emergency surgery to kidney failure, liver damage, third-degree burns, a collapsed urethra, and eventual removal of her womb.

According to further reports, she had penned down an emotional last request on her deathbed, asking her family to demand an autopsy into her passing.

“I suspect something went wrong with my medical reports from Ghana and Liberia. I asked that doctors reopen my body with my family present,” she wrote in an emotional appeal to a Family chat seen by this paper.

“Please don’t let those who did this to me get away with it. There’s a reason my kidneys failed, and I never had problems with them before,” she penned in tears on her dying bed.

Meanwhile, Activist Martin KN. Kollie expressed shock about Jamesetta’s death, while sending out condolences to the bereaved family.

“I didn’t know Jamesetta had returned to Liberia. Against our advice and without us knowing, she was flown back to Liberia”, Kollie notes.

He had launched a fundraiser on March 15, 2025, to assist in the treatment and recovery of Jamesetta.

Surprisingly on May 16, 2025, he took to Social Media and informed the public that Jamesetta was recovering, but four days later, she passed off.

Prior to her death, in February this year the late Madam Jamesetta J. Kugmeh, RN, accused doctors and nurses at ELWA Hospital in Paynesville of alleged operational blunder during delivery, when she went under surgical Cesarean Section (C-Section), resulting to her kidney and urethra’s failure.  

She at the time called on the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC), Liberia Board of Nursing and Midwifery and the Ministry of Health to thoroughly investigate the case, as she was experiencing uncontrollable bleeding and severe pain at John F. Kennedy Hospital where she was later transferred. 

Cesarean Section or Cesarean Birth, (C-Section) is surgical delivery of a baby through a cut (incision) made in the birth parent’s abdomen and uterus. However, this is provided by healthcare providers when they believe it is safer for both the mother and the baby.  

Speaking in tears during an interview at the John F. Kennedy Hospital, she narrated that early February 24, 2025, she woke up and beautifully dressed along with her husband, and while they were on their way to purchase something, she decided to go and do a regular Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) at the ELWA hospital where she had been undergoing treatment since her pregnancy. 

The Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) is calculated as part of a complete blood count (CBC) test, which gives an estimate of the baby’s ability to fight infection.

According to her, when she got at the hospital, the nurse told her that the pregnancy had lasted for forty-two weeks, five days and that she needed to be admitted in the ward.

“I told the nurse that even my first pregnancy, I went longer. I informed her that my pregnancy usually takes longer and I will get in pain by myself.  But, the Nurse told me that I can’t leave; it’s the hospital’s policy. When they did my ANC checkup, the child’s health and vital sign everything was well and okay. The child’s vital sign was 136 when they did the   incision. So, they transferred me on the ward. They did the incision on February 24 at 7:00 pm and I remained there up to February 25, 2025 in serious pain”, Madam Kugmeh disclosed then.

She continued that she was in severe pain when doctors at ELWA told her that they needed to do C-Section on her, something, she consented to and they took her in the theater where she offered prayers before the surgical operation was performed.

But according to her at the time, the surgical operation was performed by one Dr. Yasu, instead of Dr. Susay, adding that due to the drip that was between her and Dr. Yasu, she didn’t recognize his face while he was performing the surgery.

She said not until when she saw on the Child Card Road to Health, she then saw Dr. Yasu’s name as the doctor that did the operation, and so she asked who was he, because she didn’t know him.

She said while on the ward with oxygen, she started bleeding severely, and nurses told her that her uterus was not contracting, which according to her, she understood, as a medical person herself, because in some cases the uterus doesn’t contract, especially for multifarious women. 

“From there, they suggested a total history histo-restoration, and I agreed. They took me in the second time and did the total histo-restoration operation, but when they brought me back, everything became abnormal again. So, the nurses suggested that I be taken to the Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) for monitoring and stability. I was semi-conscious because I was talking to them”, she recounted. Editing by Jonathan Browne