Mother separated from son after code orange at Lee Memorial Hospital

A mother was asked to evacuate Lee Memorial Hospital Thursday afternoon, leaving her son who has stage 4 cancer.

Gloria Lamberty was asked to evacuate the hospital due to the code orange alert due to a mercury exposure at Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium.

Lamberty is willing to do anything for her son.

“My son has stage four cancer and I just recently found that out,” Lamberty said. “I live in New York and he gave us a call. He gave us the news. I lost it. I’m like, we go to Florida.”

She rode with him in an ambulance straight to Lee Memorial Hospital Thursday afternoon but was asked to evacuate moments after arriving.

“They brought them in there, they put the IV in his arm and gave him pain medication. And then they said I can’t stand out there,” Lamberty said.

Outside the hospital, there were flashing lights and caution tape which was in response to the code orange call. This is standard protocol for hazmat situations.

Dr. Brenda Hage is the director of nursing at Florida Gulf Coast University Nursing School. She walked WINK news through what caring for hazmat patients may have looked like.

“First thing you would do is get a history from the patient and understand the type of exposure that they had the length of time they were exposed,” Hage said.

Hage emphasized the importance of timely care.

“I think with prompt recognition and treatment, the outcome for people should be fairly positive,” Hage said.