Qld Health allegations of neglect: Ipswich dad almost dies at Arthur Gorrie while waiting for court date

The family of a young dad with terminal cancer claim his lifespan has been cut short after he spent 84 days in custody unmedicated despite their pleas to provide his prescribed treatment.

An Ipswich family alleges Queensland Health and Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre played a role in their loved one’s lifespan being cut short after a young man diagnosed with terminal cancer almost died while waiting for his next court date.

Ipswich dad Gino Andre Buchholz-Ale, 26, spent 84 days in custody unmedicated after he was picked up on a return to prison warrant in March.

Police arrested Mr Buchholz-Ale at his mother’s home at Goodna, after he drove dangerously while evading officers because they knew he was growing and selling cannabis while on a suspended sentence for similar crimes.

He said he panicked and ran because he was terrified of dying in jail.

MEDICATION ATTEMPTS GO UNACTIONED

Mr Buchholz-Ale’s sister Emily Weeks said she informed the prison on multiple occasions that he had terminal cancer and needed daily medication to keep it under control.

Ms Weeks said hours after her brother’s arrest she was on the phone to the watch-house and Arthur Gorrie.

“I said look, he needs his medication,” she said.

“He hasn’t been for months now because he’s been too scared of going to the hospital … can you guys please make sure that he’s seen?”

“Both of them said ‘no worries as soon as he gets here we will be on to it’.”

Mr Buchholz-Ale’s lawyer also tried to organise his medical treatment.

After complaining about being in severe pain for about a week, a few days after his 26th birthday and on his 84th day in custody, Mr Buchholz-Ale woke up unable to move — he was paralysed from the waist down for 11 hours.

Gino Buchholz-Ale’s sister Emily Weeks and his ex-wife Iesha Stead at the Ipswich Courthouse on Tuesday, August 8. Picture: Queensland Times

The cancer had riddled his body, spreading to the spinal cord, brain, and nervous system.

He was rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital, but doctors struggled to find a treatment that his cancer responded to.

“He requires urgent inpatient chemotherapy to treat his leukaemia … his prognosis is overall poor,” Mr Buchholz-Ale’s haematologist wrote in a letter.

“We would expect long term survival of approximately 25 per cent but this may change.

“His pain is somewhat better controlled compared to admission – he remains in a precarious position.”

A day later Mr Buchholz-Ale’s health declined further.

“Unfortunately [he] is not currently responding to the chemotherapy … it is certainly possible that these [treatments] will not control his leukaemia and this could be a life limiting illness with a prognosis of days [to] weeks,” another letter stated.

However, more than a week later that time frame extended to three to six months.

“He is clinically stable … but his prognosis is poor”.

RADIO SILENCE FROM OFFICIALS

The Queensland Times reached out to the following departments for specific comment on Gino’s experience to no avail: The Office for Prisoner Health and Wellbeing, Queensland Health, West Moreton Health, and The Office of the Health Ombudsman.

However, a Queensland Corrective Services spokeswoman said Queensland Health was responsible for prisoner health care in all Queensland jails.

“Queensland Corrective Services works to ensure prisoner access to health care as directed by Queensland Health, either within a centre or externally at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Secure Unit or other health settings,” she said.

“For confidentiality reasons, we do not have visibility of the specifics of a prisoner’s care beyond what is necessary to facilitate access.”

The Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, west of Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

West Moreton Health preventive health and prison services director Therese Hayes said out of respect for Mr Buchholz-Ale she would not comment on the matter.

“We do not comment publicly on the individual circumstances of a patient’s treatment,” Ms Hayes said.

Ms Hayes did not confirm when the department became aware there was a cancer patient under their care at Arthur Gorrie.

Ms Hayes also did not respond when asked what protocols staff follow in regards to terminally ill prisoners and if the claims were being investigated.

FIGHT FOR DIGNIFIED DEATH

Mr Buchholz-Ale’s sister Emily said she was terrified that her little brother was going to die alone in custody and never get the chance to see his eight-year-old son again.

Ms Weeks said she contacted every and any department to help get her brother bail but everyone said it wasn’t their ‘jurisdiction’ — in desperation she even walked into Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Brisbane office.

“We’ve just been fighting for the end of his life to be comfortable and happy,” she said.

“The way Gino had been treated was inhumane.

“It [felt] like my baby brother was dying in front of me without us being able to hold his hand and tell him it’s going to be okay at 3am when he’s crying and confused.

“We all understand that actions have consequences … [but] he doesn’t deserve this.”

Ms Weeks said it was highly difficult to arrange visitation with Mr Buchholz-Ale, and it was extremely heartbreaking to see his son’s reaction to him being cuffed to a hospital bed with black bruising around his wrists and ankles.

“I believe this could have been prevented had mine, my families, our lawyers, and Gino’s requests … been taken seriously and not rejected,” she said.

“Procedures around certain things in the Queensland Correction Service and Health System need to change and they have to look at each person’s circumstances.”

DESCENT INTO CRIME

With months left to live, Mr Buchholz-Ale was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence and released on bail on August 10.

At Ipswich Magistrates Mr Buchholz-Ale pleaded guilty to more than 40 charges, at least 30 of which were drug related.

An Ipswich Magistrates court heard he turned to a life of crime after failing to grapple with his terminal diagnosis, father’s suicide, marriage breakdown, and grandfather’s death.

The court heard he had no criminal history before he experienced the significant traumas in quick succession, however his circumstances were not an excuse for his criminal behaviour.

Mr Buchholz-Ale’s ex-wife Iesha Stead, 26, said his release was a relief but it had been an incredibly difficult and stressful situation to navigate, especially when it came to the pair’s son.

“More humanity and compassion is needed within [the system],” she said.

“He has such a big heart like if anyone needs help he’s the first person to put his hand up.

“I think his soul is a bit broken with everything he has been through.

“People just look at him in jail as if he’s a number — he’s a person.”