Relatives of the man who died waiting for hours to be treated in a Bronx ER don’t have enough money to bury him — and one of his brothers is pleading for donations.
Charles Verrier said in an online message that his family needs $15,000 to pay for a funeral and other expenses related to the shocking death of his younger brother, Jon Verrier, 30.
“We are emotionally devastated enough without having to deal with the financial stress and burden that is tearing apart our family since we can’t afford to bring him home and to have him buried,” Charles wrote on gofundme.com, a crowd-funding Web site.
As of Sunday evening, three donors had contributed a combined $380, with one writing “Love and complete sadness.”
Jon’s body has yet to be claimed from the city Medical Examiner’s Office, which said it’s awaiting the results of toxicology tests after an autopsy failed to determine his cause of death.
Jon’s lifeless body was discovered in a waiting-room chair at St. Barnabas Hospital on the morning of Jan. 20, more than eight hours after he walked in for treatment of a rash.
According to his family, Jon struggled with drug addiction in the past but had been clean for months, with Charles describing him as “on an upward track and beginning a new life.”
“How would you feel if you found out that one of your beloved family members died by watching the news? That’s how I found out my brother died….5 days after the fact!” he wrote.
Neither the state Health Department nor the The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies hospitals, would say Sunday if they’re looking into the incident.
A spokesman for Bronx DA’s Office said it wouldn’t investigate unless the ME declares the death a homicide.
St. Barnabas has said that an internal review showed all proper protocols were followed, and that Jon ignored repeated announcements summoning him to see a doctor.
Official Medicare statistics show that the average time to be treated and released from the St. Barnabas ER is a stunningly sluggish 5 hours and 6 minutes — more than twice the national average — but hospital spokesman Steve Clark insisted Sunday that Jon was “absolutely” called sooner than that.
“We have nothing to hide,” hospital spokesman Steve Clark said Sunday.
A lawyer for Verrier’s kin said they were “distraught over the loss of their loved one” but declined to comment further.