Mo. Black Man Dies In Hospital Parking Lot After He Was Denied Treatment
A Missouri woman is mourning the loss of her husband after she says he died in the parking lot of a hospital that refused to care for him.
According to KMOV 4, David Alexander Bell, 39, died in the parking lot of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Peters, Missouri, on January 12 after experiencing extreme chest pain during the first week of the month. His wife, Sadie Bell, says she took him to the emergency room twice that week, but says the medical staff didn’t admit him to the hospital. Instead, he was prescribed Ibuprofen and they were sent home.
The hospital is declining comment over Sadie Bell’s accusation.
KMOV 4 reports that Bell, a board director at Central County Fire & Rescue, returned to work, but was rushed a third time to the hospital by his colleagues. After learning that her husband had been taken back to Barnes-Jewish by his coworker, she told the news station that she wishes he wouldn’t have been rushed to that particular hospital.
"He said, 'Why not?' and I said, 'Every time that we have taken him, all they did was give him Ibuprofen and sent him home, and I'm really thinking they are missing something,'" Mrs. Bell tells KMOV 4.
Sadie then claims she arrived at the hospital and found David sitting in a wheelchair outside the facility. She says she asked once again for doctors to run tests and was told by doctors, "he's already been here twice for the same thing” and that they “already diagnosed him."
Mr. Bell passed away before they left the parking lot. "I don't know what they thought and I just don't understand why they wouldn't help him," Sadie says. "I don't want any family to feel what we're feeling right now."
Since learning of his passing, the Central County Fire & Rescue team made a Facebook post to lament the loss of their colleague.
"We are all better for having known and worked with you to support and protect our community,” CCFR's statement reads. “We overcame some tremendous challenges and accomplished some amazing things under your leadership.”
CCFR added that David Bell was an asset to the community and a selfless public servant.
"The legacy you've left behind has undoubtedly made our community safer and better for having you at the helm for the past three years," it continued. "David, we will miss your smile and the positive presence you brought to any room. We know that your faith in God was an integral part of your life. Rest in peace, friend."
A GoFundMe campaign has been created to cover funeral expenses and to establish a fund to “ensure that the educational and extra-curricular activities that he worked so hard to provide for his children while here can continue, even in his absence."
David Alexander Bell is survived by Sadie and their three children.
