Support for survivor of medical abuse at Irwin
A nonprofit fundraiser supporting
El RefugioSupport A., who survived a botched, unnecessary gynecological procedure at Irwin Detention Center.
$2,000
raised by 34 people
$2,000 goal
This fundraiser is co-supported by El Refugio, Georgia Detention Watch, GLAHR, Project South, and South Georgia Immigrant Support Network. All funds collected through this fundraiser, minus the fees fees charged by Mightycause, will go directly to A. to use to reunite with her husband and pay for medical expenses and housing.
Here is her story:
A. was detained at Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, when she was sent to a doctor for IUD removal.
The doctor told her she had several cysts on her right ovary, including one that was the size of a golf ball. The doctor told A. the large cyst needed to be removed immediately via an outpatient procedure. Instead she was taken to a hospital for more invasive surgery. She requested a day or two to think it over and speak to her attorney and discuss it with her family, but the nurse told her that delaying the surgery could put her health at risk. She told her that the cyst could burst at any time and cause severe pain and complications. She also said that if A. refused the surgery for now but requested it later, ICE might not approve it. The nurse pressured A. into having surgery, which included a D&C, a scraping of her uterus. The surgery would later be proven unnecessary. Doctors who reviewed her records found no evidence of a cyst or any reason for a D&C. She developed an infection, because she was not given the antibiotics she needed. She suffers from chronic pelvic pain.
The surgery appears to have been a money grab. A. was not the only woman at Irwin to have an unnecessary and botched gynecological procedure, and some women reported that they are infertile as a result. A. has shared her story with Congress and advocacy organizations in hopes of getting Irwin County Detention Center shut down for abuse, medical neglect, human rights violations, and absence of due process, issues that have been extensively documented for years at Irwin and at Stewart County Detention Center, a men's detention center also in rural Georgia.
A. was released from Irwin and now faces significant hurdles to get her life back after 1.5 years in detention. She and her children, ages 7 and 11, are living with relatives, and her husband, due to lack of space, lives in another state. When she was taken by ICE and sent to Irwin, her family lost their home and their car. Her credit cards went into default, and she lost all the tuition she had paid for the semester at college. As a family, they have to start over. Your support will help them be reunited, start over financially, and heal from the emotional and physical trauma A. experienced at Irwin.
El Refugio along with Georgia Detention Watch, GLAHR, Project South, South Georgia Immigrant Support Network, and Detention Watch Network support this fundraiser. We respect her decision to withhold her name and photo. We believe she deserves the opportunity to rebuild her life with her husband and children. All funds collected through this fundraiser, minus the fees charged by Mightycause, will go directly to A. to use to reunite with her husband and rebuild her life. Thank you for supporting and caring about A.