A 62-year-old man has become a recurring figure for those who walk along San Francisco de Asís Street, near the avenue The Americasin Santo Domingo Este. For approximately four months, he has been stationed in a corner of the area.
Unhealthiness has completely invaded him: his dirty clothes stick to his body, the stench surrounds him and the flies seem to follow him like wandering shadows.
A team of Free Diary He approached him to talk to him, following complaints from several neighbors about his situation. The man identified himself as Saints Gregorio Pimentel del Rosario and explained that he was admitted to the Dario Contreras Hospital for two weeks, after suffering a traffic accident near the Mercado Nuevo, in the National District.
He commented that he has two brothers, one lives in a neighborhood near the Mercado Nuevo, and the other by kilometer 24 of the Duarte Highway, but they have never been close.
He stated that, before arriving in that state, he had a rented house in the La Zurza sector, in the National District, but the owners asked him to leave it because he was not paying due to lack of financial resources. He indicated that, from time to time, he sold avocados, but it was only enough to cover some needs.
The gesture of solidarity of the neighbors
Some neighbors have tried to lend a hand. With effort, they have bathed him, brought him clean clothes and offered him food. However, since he does not have a roof, he relieves himself outdoors and remains in the same clothes he is wearing.
Juliana Jimeneza resident in the area, indicated that she and some community members have called the authorities of Public health and to National Council for the Aging (Conape). However, so far they have not received any response to help them.
“We bathe him, we put clothes on him, we give him food, and they have put pillows and everything on him. But he himself, after half an hour, becomes a pupú, he takes out the pupú with his hand and, when someone brings him the food , the coffee or whatever, like that, with his hand dirty with poop, he eats it,” Juliana said.
He added that, although it is now located in the back of the San Francisco de Asís School, it has previously been in other places around the school. Dario Contreras Hospital.
Kendry Felix, who works in the area, expressed that the indigent He has not died because they offer him water and food.
He indicated that there is a Christian lady who, from time to time, also pays someone to bathe him.
It’s not the first time it’s happened in the area.
They assure that the situation they face with Saints Gregory It’s not the first. They point out that other similar cases have arisen and denounce that many of them have been patients of the Dario Contreras Hospital.
However, the center assures that it does not abandon its patients on the street and that it has a Social Services department that carries out investigations to locate the relatives of those who are hospitalized without company. Furthermore, they explain that, in many cases, the relatives themselves refuse to accept the patients.
They indicated that they work on some cases in conjunction with Conape, although this organization also has specific policies for the admission of patients.
