The family of Carlos Arnulfo Toro Paz, a 36-year-old man from Pitalito, accuses health and emergency services of negligences that led to his death after a severe convulsion. He had suffered an accident in 2018 leaving neurological sequelae, and recently faced delays in care that worsened his condition. They demand investigations into emergency protocols in the region.
Carlos Arnulfo Toro Paz, 36 years old and from Pitalito, died last Friday in Neiva from complications following a severe convulsion that struck him on Wednesday in his hometown. His sister María Toro recounted to La Nación the history of negligences that, according to the family, defined his life from a 2018 traffic accident to his passing.
In that incident, while riding a motorcycle through an urban area of Pitalito, Toro Paz crashed into an unmarked speed bump with a hole, causing a severe traumatic brain injury. "There was a speed bump without signage and a hole. That made him lose stability," María recalled. Initially attended by firefighters, he was taken to the San Antonio Departmental Hospital without notifying his family. His mother found him in the emergency bathroom, seated on a plastic chair with his head down overnight, allowing blood to enter his brain, as alleged.
Undergoing three surgeries, including removal of part of his frontal bone—which was never returned—he spent 25 days in intensive care and seven in intermediate care. Despite dire prognoses, he partially recovered, learning to eat independently and care for himself, though with memory issues. Years later, a court order enabled fitting a prosthesis to his forehead.
On the recent Wednesday, a severe convulsion in Pitalito received no prompt care: firefighters reported no available ambulance, and taxi drivers refused to transport him. The family took him to the hospital, where he arrived alongside two other accident victims and aspirated. Transferred late to Medilaser Clinic in Neiva, his condition deteriorated; during an exam on Friday at the Myriam Parra site, he suffered cardiac arrest and died.
The body lay unrefrigerated for over 24 hours due to delays in removal by Neiva Mobility authorities. "We left him alive in Pitalito and they delivered him dead in Neiva," María stated, calling for reviews of emergency protocols to prevent similar cases.