Hostile

Summary

The Pitcairn Trials – "Hostile" (July 13, 2026)

Podcast: Always True Crime
Host: Luke Jones
Episode Overview:
In this episode of "The Surgeon of St. Helena", Luke Jones explores the aftermath and ongoing legal battles following the scandal involving Dr. Sergio Villatoro Bran, a surgeon accused of injuring and maiming dozens in St. Helena. The episode captures the struggles of islanders seeking justice, complicated by legal obstacles, unresponsive authorities, and the challenges of isolated life in a small British territory. It’s a human story about frailty, bureaucracy, and the desperate attempts to secure accountability from afar.

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Main Theme

The episode addresses the ongoing fight for justice by the "Saints" (St. Helena residents) who allege harm at the hands of Dr. Sergio and the complexities they face in seeking legal recourse both on their island and abroad. It explores the broader issues of medical oversight, governmental accountability, and the particular vulnerabilities of small, remote communities.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Life and Connections on St. Helena

• Community Atmosphere:

  • Luke describes the intimacy of Jamestown: "so many of the faces that I pass are friendly, recognizable ones. Most of them local, some also visitors." (03:01)
  • The Saints, as locals are called, are praised for their warmth: "The Saints…are incredible." – Angus, visiting ultra-marathon swimmer (04:25).

• Daily Challenges:

  • Flight delays due to St. Helena's precarious airport location illustrate the logistical hurdles of island life. Flights are routinely cancelled for days, at significant expense and uncertainty (13:45).

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Divided Legacy of Dr. Sergio

• Mixed Reputation:

  • Some residents report positive experiences. Newspaper editor Vince says, "He did attend to her on more than one occasion and, strangely enough, we had no complaints.” (06:03)
  • However, out of 129 legal clients, 92 allege injury by Dr. Sergio, highlighting a deep divide (06:12).

• Whereabouts and Credentials:

  • Dr. Sergio is reported to be working as a surgeon in Guatemala, "still working and seemingly operating on people," despite his criminal conviction in St. Helena (07:32).
  • His advertised credentials are misleading; "He talks about working at Jamestown hospital in the UK. St Helena is not in the UK... The NHS...can sigh a huge sigh of relief that he never worked there." (09:13)
  • Claims of US fellowships are dubious, as institutions listed have no record of him (09:38-10:41).

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Legal Battles & Institutional Barriers

Judicial Review and Government Response

• The Saints' primary advocate, solicitor Ruth, orchestrates a multi-pronged push for justice.
  • Initial government reforms impeded access to justice; a judicial review forced a governmental U-turn, repealing restrictive legislation (16:10-17:08).
  • However, "our trust had been battered, if not had comprehensively broken down." (16:46)
• After-The-Event Insurance:
  • Without specialist insurance, claimants risk enormous financial exposure, a protection routinely available in the UK but unattainable on St. Helena (18:22-19:14).

Government Maneuvers and Tactics

• The Attorney General, Andrew Duncan, bypasses legal protocol by contacting claimants directly, causing confusion and distress (19:48).
  • "It would never happen in the UK... One client... thought that the offer... had been made after negotiation... which hadn't happened... I can only describe it as Rogue behavior." – Ruth (20:55).
• The AG further disrupts a confidential Zoom client meeting by turning up uninvited, citing a Facebook post as his ticket (21:38–22:14).

Attorney General’s Background

• Internal government criticism emerges: "He said he was declared bankrupt in 2014, which he was, and he'd worked for a firm that had incredibly bad and angry reviews online...doesn't make him appropriate for the job..." (22:26)
• The UK government appears “monumentally disinterested” in the islanders’ plight (25:17).

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The Human Cost

Personal Stories

• Glenda’s Ordeal:
  • Glenda, 66, recounts losing both legs to infections that began as minor wounds, blaming a lack of proper early intervention at the local hospital (26:31–28:54).
  • "If they'd [properly] been done that from the beginning…most of us still have my leg today." – Glenda (28:15)
  • She expresses determination: "You're damn right I'm going to [stick with them]." (29:42)
• General Sentiment:
  • Many claimants feel alienated and unsupported. "Those are the ones who need compensation, but something fishy going on. But I gonna stick to them...I still will fight." – Glenda (29:42–30:08)

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Larger Questions and Island Outlook

• Exodus and Dysfunction:
  • “The island is depopulating, so it's serious. So the dysfunctionality is growing exponentially.” – Vince (30:57)
• Hope for Reform:
  • "We've had a change of government who seem to put people at the heart of things...so I am feeling a lot more hopeful now than I was this time last year." – Catherine, Human Rights Commissioner (31:13)
• Final Reflection:
  • The episode ends on the tension between the small island’s vulnerability and the rights its people should enjoy as British citizens. If justice is inaccessible both locally and in the UK, "Where are they citizens of and where are their rights?" – Ruth (24:11)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I feel that we're so obviously right and this situation is so obviously wrong. I really feel like we're. We'll either win this or I'll die trying to win this." – Ruth (11:11)
• “Our trust had been battered, if not had comprehensively broken down.” – Ruth (16:46)
• “One client...thought the offer...had been made after negotiation...it hadn't happened. I can only describe it as Rogue behavior.” – Ruth (20:55)
• “It can't possibly be right that they are left without a remedy... What is the root of their access to justice if it's in neither place?” – Ruth (24:11)
• "Picket Downing Street. I'll chain myself to the railings if I have to because it just can't be right that people are essentially disenfranchised from the justice system..." – Ruth (25:17)
• "If everything is going okay, there are so many positives...[but] if you'd asked me this a year ago, I'd probably have said...last person out, turn the lights off." – Catherine (31:13)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:49 – Arrival in Jamestown and first observations
• 04:27 – Interview with visiting ultra-marathon swimmer Angus
• 06:03 – Vince’s positive account of Dr. Sergio
• 07:32 – Investigation into Dr. Sergio and Dr. Soto’s current status
• 09:13–10:41 – Unraveling Dr. Sergio’s questionable credentials
• 11:11 – Ruth’s declaration on the injustice faced by islanders
• 16:46 – Government's U-turn, but with lingering mistrust
• 19:12–19:48 – Failure to secure vital legal insurance; government’s direct approach to claimants
• 21:38 – Attorney General crashes claimants’ confidential meeting
• 22:26 – Criticism of Attorney General’s background
• 24:11–25:17 – Ruth reflects on possible disenfranchisement from justice both locally and in the UK
• 26:31–28:54 – Glenda’s story of double amputation due to medical neglect
• 30:57 – Vince on population decline and government dysfunction
• 31:13 – Catherine expresses hope for the island’s future

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Conclusion

"Hostile" is an episode that lays bare the frailty of island systems, the persistence of injustice, and the indomitable spirit of those denied their rights. The Saints' story captures a community grappling with trauma, bureaucracy, and a thirst for recognition and remedy. The episode ends on a note of fighting hope—despite every barrier, the pursuit of justice continues.

For further questions or to submit feedback, listeners are encouraged to contact Luke at [e-mail].

Transcript

[A]

Hello, it's Luke here. Before we get into this episode, I would like to hear your questions about our latest series, the surgeon of St. Helena.

[B]

You might be curious about the criminal

[A]

investigation, all the legal wranglings afterwards, the island, some of the people involved, how the series was made, Jonathan the Tortoise Send us any of your questions and

[B]

I'm going to answer as many as

[A]

I can in a special Q and A episode coming soon. You can email me at Luke jones

[B]

always true crime.com or join the chat

[A]

on the Always True Crime Patreon page.

[C]

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[D]

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[E]

Since the dawn of time, humanity has been at war. It has shaped the world around us. And if it somehow feels like we've been here before, it's because we have. I'm David Boris. I'm a military historian, and on my new podcast, Hostile History, I take us inside history's most defining wars and rebellions, from Genghis Khan to the war In Iran. Find out how the past can explain the present. Search for and follow hostile history on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

[A]

Hey, morning. We're trying to find dance.

[F]

That's it right there, darling.

[C]

But it'll be open, open round about.

[A]

Mobilov, 10 o'. Clock. St Helena is obviously quite small and the capital, Jamestown, is even smaller. So by the end of my stay walking up and down the high street, so many of the faces that I pass are friendly, recognizable ones. Most of them local, some also visitors. How's it looking?

[G]

Hey, it's looking good.

[H]

So it looks like we are only going to Vitmus. Sorry. Nice to see you again. Lovely to see you again.

[A]

Lovely, lovely.

[H]

Looks like maybe on the weekend or maybe only Monday.

[A]

This man Angus is visiting from South Africa so he can swim around the entire island. An ultra marathon.

[H]

It's about 47km and I'm hoping to do it under 20 hours. 18 will be a bonus and we'll start at 11am 11pm just before midnight. And we'll swim through the night, through the day, and hopefully I'll finish around five, six o' clock the next day.

[B]

Or you eat.

[H]

So along the way my wife and my crew will be feeding me. I'll feed in the beginning.

[F]

Hello.

[A]

Nice to follow you.

[H]

Are you Sophie? No, no.

[F]

Lee.

[H]

Lee, Lovely to meet you.

[A]

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize. I think you're meeting Vince tomorrow.

[H]

That's right. Yes.

[B]

That's my.

[H]

My yes.

[G]

My paper.

[H]

Oh, is it okay?

[A]

Yes, Independence.

[F]

Oh.

[A]

I'm seeing Vince later today at lunchtime.

[G]

Oh, great. Seeing everybody.

[H]

Yeah, wonderful. Awesome. Well, I've met everybody.

[A]

See what I mean?

[B]

And what do you make of St. Helena? Is this your first time here?

[H]

My wife, my friends absolutely love it. The Saints, they call them Saints are incredible.

[A]

It's strange, eh?

[H]

You climb up the plane, you like go back 100 years. Yeah, no, it's. It's amazing.

[A]

What about though, the legal marathon? See what I did there? Being endured by Ruth and some of the many saints wanting to take their government to court for hiring a doctor who they say injured, maimed and even disabled them. And what about Dr. Sergio himself? Where is he now? What's he doing? From audio Always and me, Luke Jones, this is The Surgeon of St. Helena. Episode 7 Hostile. During my time on St. Helena, it became clear that obviously not everybody who had encountered Dr. Sergio had a problem with him. On an afternoon off, I headed up Jacob's ladder, which is 699 steep steps going right up the cliff with Jamestown at the bottom and a place called Ladder Hill at the top. It was hot. I was less fit than I thought. So as I was wheezing and huffing and puffing at the top, a lady offered me a ride back into town. She was asking me what I was doing there. I was talking about Dr. Sergio and she said, actually her husband had been operated on by Sergio and it had all gone well and her husband had really benefited from the operation. Newspaper editor Vince, who said his late wife was treated by Dr. Sergio, had a broadly positive experience.

[B]

He did attend to her on more than one occasion and, strangely enough, we had no complaints.

[A]

But there are plenty with complaints as things stand. Solicitor Ruth has 129 clients. The vast majority, 92, say they were injured by Dr. Sergio Villatoro Bran. And 30 accuse Dr. Carlos Soto, the Guatemalan who had been chief medical officer when Dr. Sergio was hired. And I was thinking, in all of this legal drama, where are they? What are they up to? Let's start with Dr. Soto.

[B]

I have been doing some digging and found out that Carlos Soto left the island as Bran was being investigated. Actually, one person told me that he abandoned his car at the airport, such was his rush. But looking online here, I can see that at least in the last few years, he has been working at a hospital in Turks and Caicos, which is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. There's an advert here for him hosting some kind of event about breast cancer awareness. He's listed on the website of that hospital.

[A]

Still, we reached out to that hospital and asked if we could speak to Dr. Soto, but he never responded. So what about his former colleague, then, and the man he helped bring to St. Helena, Dr. Sergio?

[B]

He is in Guatemala, still working as a surgeon. It is incredible that he's still working and seemingly operating on people. Remember, this is after he pleaded guilty to five counts of unlawful wounding and the court said that they would write to the Guatemalan authorities to suggest he be struck off. Before you get into any of the claims which have been made about him beyond that, I did try texting him, Instagram, messaging him, emailing him, writing to his solicitor. No response. Although at one point, the person manning his surgery's WhatsApp account asked me what the appointment I was after would be for. I said I was keen to talk about his work. Sorry, not possible, they replied.

[A]

I tried calling him, both via WhatsApp and via his surgery in Guatemala.

[B]

Hi there. I'm trying to get in touch with Dr. Sergio.

[A]

Is he there? Nothing. But if you look on his Instagram, I can see here, amongst all the

[B]

gym selfies, there are photos of him from this year in scrubs in surgery.

[A]

It looks like he set up the

[B]

account shortly after leaving St. Helena. And quickly there are posts advertising his practice and what he's available to do on someone else's page. He's even photographed as one of the directors on the board of Guatemala's association of Arthroscopic and Joint Surgery. And he is listed on their website as being a director as well. Again, this is after he was found to have criminally injured patients in St. Helena. And on one of the websites offering his Services, he has 40 ratings. All of them are high, there are no low or medium ones. One of them says he is professional and has a warm and caring manner. I highly recommend him. And on his website, he says he has 17 years of experience as an orthopedic surgeon, including experience in the uk, which is not true. He talks about working at Jamestown hospital in the UK. St Helena is not in the UK. The NHS, for all its problems, can sigh a huge sigh of relief that he never worked there. And actually, if you look into his resume and his cv, things do start to look odd. He talks about working in the us, doing a surgery fellowship at, quote, American University. There is one by that name in Washington, dc. They don't have a medical school. He also talks about doing a surgery fellowship at the Joint Surgery Institute of Miami. No such place exists. In another cv, he does talk about working at the West Kendall Baptist Hospital in Miami. That does exist. I contacted them many times to see if he worked there. No reply from them. But I did get a reply from the Arthroscopic association of North America, of which Sergio said he was an associate member. They said they had no record of him.

[A]

My time was almost up on the island. Ruth and I headed to one of the places that has fed us best on the trip, a restaurant called Anne's Place. Fried fish again is the speciality. And the ceiling is covered with many, many flags from all over the world. And we watched as a quiz night got underway. I wondered what was going through her mind at the end of yet another trip meeting all of these people affected.

[G]

It's tragic. It's tragic. The thing that makes me angry about it, actually, is I feel as if these. They're so vulnerable. I feel that they're really vulnerable geographically and they're vulnerable in that they can't ever get a second opinion. And they're vulnerable in that they haven't Got access to lawyers or other specialists that they need. And it's a bit like, you know, it's a bit like abusers who prey on people and can take advantage of people that are vulnerable. I feel angry and I just feel like it's a massive injustice. I feel that we're so obviously right and this situation is so obviously wrong. I really feel like we're. We'll either win this or I'll die trying to win this.

[A]

The next day was time to head back to the uk. After our smooth arrival, I thought nothing of the airport and its problems. But then I think we've had the

[B]

quintessential St. Helena experience, because no sooner had we checked out of our hotel over the way and stood out on the porch ready, waiting for our airport transfer, where we told that the the wind wasn't good enough for the plane coming in from South Africa to land. So even though it stopped off in Namibia, refueled and set off again, they have turned around and are heading back. So we're not flying today, Saturday. And all the locals here, when you ask them about when you think we might go, say, it's probably not going to be tomorrow, it's probably not going to be Monday, it's most likely Tuesday. So the airport and its slightly unsuitable Runway aspect and location means that quite often those flights which have to be subsidized by government are delayed. How does anyone plan a trip here if it could be, well, you know, give or take 1, 2, 3 days, a about when you might arrive or leave the plane company and the government. Somebody must be making enormous losses here because all of us who haven't been able to get on that plane are being put up out of their pocket and fed, as are the people in Johannesburg who couldn't get here.

[A]

It's absolutely incredible.

[B]

How can you do anything? So I'm going to go to the pool.

[A]

It was Monday that we were all eventually able to leave. Even back in the uk, though, this story did not stop.

[C]

A Better help ad matching with my

[D]

therapist was very quick and easy. I just filled out a couple of questions. Before you know it, I was matched with the therapist.

[C]

I just felt like a weight just was lifted off of my shoulders and I felt like it was a good match from the first time we talked about betterhelp is there to meet people at their needs, giving them a space to feel safe. There is a stigma about therapy, but with BetterHelp, I meet people where they are. Wherever you are, that's where BetterHelp begins. Visit betterhelp.comrandompodcast to get started.

[E]

Since the dawn of time, humanity has been at war. It has shaped the world around us. And if it somehow feels like we've been here before, it's because we have. David I'm David Boris. I'm a military historian, and on my new podcast, Hostile History, I take us inside history's most defining wars and rebellions, from Genghis Khan to the war in Iran. Find out how the past can explain the present. Search for and follow Hostile History on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

[A]

A few weeks later, in drizzly old London, I met up with Ruth in her home in Greenwich. To her adversaries, she could be quite scary when under attack. But Ruth also makes a lovely cup of tea. It is apt that she lives in Greenwich, apt because the very first St. Helena constitution from 1682, which I saw at the Islands Museum, specifically said that the citizens of St. Helena should be treated as as if they were living in Greenwich in London, basically. They may be far away, but it's British soil and they should be treated like the British citizens they are. Ruth and the island's human Rights commissioner, Catherine, were gearing up to take the St. Helena government to court. The judicial review of this rushed law, they say blocked fair access to justice, depriving injured saints of their constitutional rights.

[G]

But then we were all ready to attend a what's called a case management hearing in relation to the judicial review,

[A]

where the judge and everyone involved meet to get their ducks in a row.

[G]

Just hours before that was due to take place, we received an email from one of the Attorney General's representatives to say that they were amending the legislation that they passed and that actually all their amendments addressed the things that we

[A]

were complaining about, which is a great success. A U turn all of this problem sorted, right?

[G]

Yeah, great. Except once bitten, twice shy. You know, we've been in that situation before when they've said that they're going to do something and then they say, oh no, actually no, change their minds on that. We're going to do something else. And so I think it's fair to say that our trust had been battered, if not had comprehensively broken down.

[A]

They put the judicial review on hold and waited to see if the government did what they said they were going to do. And they did. The U turning amendments were passed. The restrictions that Ruth and Catherine had said blocked saints from getting access to justice were gone. But Ruth says they still couldn't press on. They might now be able to enter into conditional fee agreements, no win, no fee agreements with clients so they can litigate for them. But the kind of insurance Ruth says Saints needed for their claims wasn't possible. In the uk, this is standard practice. It is called after the event insurance. Medical experts have to be hired for these claims and they need paying win or lose, which is important. They can't have a financial incentive for helping you win your claim. And this insurance would cover their cost if you lost. So the saint, the claimant, would never be at risk of being out of pocket. It would also stop Saints from, as can be the case in certain circumstances, being successful, winning damages, but still having to pay for some of the legal costs of the St. Helena government.

[G]

Now, that is huge. It could wipe out somebody's damages completely. So it's a really, really important protection.

[A]

And here lies the problem in St.

[G]

Helena, there isn't an insurer that will provide ate cover at all. So we started to try and investigate whether our present insurer would help these people in St. Helena. But what happened was, is that they looked at the behaviour of the government and the fact that this legislation had been passed sort of very quickly with no consultation, and they said, actually, this is so volatile, it's so rogue, that this isn't a good insurance bet for us. So we are not going to be able to offer your clients ate insurance.

[A]

How does that leave you, then?

[G]

That leaves us in a position at the moment where, whilst we have the right now, because of the amended ordinances, to take out 80 insurance, we don't have the ability to take it out because there are at present no insurers who will enter that market.

[A]

So they are stuck, nowhere to go. But I guess you could say at least the St. Helena government was playing ball. Well, sort of.

[G]

They amended their legislation on the Thursday afternoon and on Friday, the Attorney General himself, Andrew Duncan, wrote letters directly to 26 of our clients, making offers of settlement on their claims. Now, that's really unusual. It would, again, it would never happen in the uk. But what was really unusual is that the letters were. Were sent directly to our clients and not via us. And it caused a huge amount of distress and anxiety because clients of ours were receiving these letters. They didn't understand the terminology of them. But actually, more worryingly, one client in particular thought that the offer that they'd received from the Attorney General had been made after negotiation with Hugh James on her behalf, which is Ruth's firm, which hadn't happened. And actually she accepted the offer. I can only describe it as Rogue behavior.

[A]

One recipient told me they were so bemused by the letter, they thought it was a scam. It was like a threat, they said. Another person, a wife of one of the claimants, said the Attorney General actually tried to haggle directly with them about what it would take to settle the claim and. And even offered her a job. And then Masha's got even more, well, unconventional. There was all this confusion. So, from the uk, Ruth and her team held a virtual town hall to explain what was happening to their clients on the island. They dialled in to a gaggle of Saints in Catherine's office in the Human Rights Commission. But the Attorney General turned up.

[G]

Yeah, he's the defendant. And this was a meeting that was just for clients. It was. We were going to be discussing privileged information and he had turned up to participate and, well, I don't know what he was going to do to speak. Not sure. Defend himself, who knows? Anyway, it was completely inappropriate for him to be there.

[A]

Ruth reports that the Attorney General, Andrew Duncan, said he'd seen a Facebook post about the meeting and. And took that as an invitation.

[G]

We had to get on a WhatsApp call with Andrew Duncan and say, please, could you leave because you're not invited to this meeting.

[B]

Was that fair?

[G]

Well, nothing's sort of off the menu in St. Helena now. Things. Bizarre things happen. And that was another bizarre thing that happened.

[A]

And this wasn't the only complaint about him. Just after I left the island, someone who works in the St. Helena government emailed me saying they'd done some digging on Andrew Duncan. He said he was declared bankrupt in 2014, which he was, and he'd worked for a firm that had incredibly bad and angry reviews online. Remember, this is a sort of colleague of Andrew Duncan's and he is emailing me to say all of this doesn't make him appropriate for the job, adding, I suspect the UK doesn't care who they inflict on St Helena. Is that fair? I mean, all those things he mentioned wouldn't necessarily stop the Attorney General doing his job. But it is interesting that some in government are very keen to get the knives out. I did contact the Attorney General asking for comment about all of this. They didn't respond. So, again, where does all of this leave Ruth's clients? What are they to do now? Even though they've fought the government and one forced them into a U turn, Ruth says they still can't litigate in St. Helena without putting Saints at enormous financial risk. So what's the plan?

[G]

The plan is to issue and litigate the claims in the uk.

[A]

Basically, there's been all this faff. There are still hurdles in place. So let's just try and take this.

[B]

They are British citizens.

[A]

Let's try and take this to the British mainland.

[G]

Yeah. All of the issues have been created by the St. Helena government to make that happen.

[A]

They'll have to make their case to the High Court in England. So another battle to have.

[B]

You must many, many years into this,

[A]

still have a thought of. I mean, this might all be for nothing.

[G]

Do you know what? I never think that, actually. I don't ever think it might all be for nothing because that can't possibly happen. I feel like I will keep fighting on this until my last breath because it can't possibly be right that a criminally liable surgeon employed by a government who has injured loads of people, Some people who he's injured and they will never recover. Some of them are children. It can't possibly be right that they are left without a remedy. They're British citizens. It appears they can't litigate in St. Helena, but if it turns out they can't litigate in the United Kingdom either, where are they citizens of and where are their rights? What is the root of their access to justice if it's in neither place?

[A]

Have you had any engagement from the UK government on this? I mean, have they got involved? Have you contacted them?

[G]

Yeah, I've contacted them. They've sort of been monumentally disinterested up until this point. I will do whatever I can. Picket Downing Street. I'll chain myself to the railings if I have to because it just can't be right that people are essentially disenfranchised from the justice system and denied compensation from this surgeon who should never have been operating on them.

[A]

And as that fight continues, there are saints on the island. Like Jillian Patrick with Mario, like Rita with her daughter Savannah. Lots of them who need help.

[F]

Oh, do come in.

[G]

Thank you.

[C]

Hi, how are you?

[G]

Good, good.

[A]

Before we left St. Helena, I followed Ruth and her team to another client meeting. I met Glenda, a 66 year old woman in a wheelchair. She shares this small and modest home with her husband who's receiving treatment for cancer. Glenda is one of Ruth's clients, but not surgery related.

[F]

It started with a big toe, it had a little pimple on it and start to ooze. So where I was a diabetic, I decided I would go to the doctor and just to check it out.

[A]

The hospital gave her antibiotics and painkillers, but it just Got worse.

[F]

It was terrible. If there's big plates of water on there and the heel. Well, like we say, we look into a glass.

[A]

So like a kind of blister and you could sort of see the fluid in it.

[F]

Yeah, it could start like that and then just spreading. Like my legs start getting like black and then start getting scaly and blistery and I just went haywire.

[A]

It got so bad that when one nurse unbandaged her foot, there were maggots.

[F]

It wasn't a big maggots, it was like an ant, very tiny ones.

[A]

It was decided to medevac her out to Johannesburg so they could treat this worsening infection there.

[F]

They send me from asphalt with my legs bandaging ingo sheets, incontinence sheets, those

[A]

sort of big absorbent pads you get in hospitals.

[F]

I went out to the airport like that and then I had all the button flies flying around my legs. It's going to oozing and bleeding.

[A]

It was oozing and bleeding so badly. She says.

[F]

And that's why I think the flies start to take to it.

[A]

Flies were everywhere. She got to Johannesburg and then by

[F]

then, Davis then decided that I would have to lose my leg.

[A]

They were going to have to amputate.

[F]

I was so, so upset. Really. I was really upset.

[B]

And you say that. Had they properly investigated that what began

[A]

as a small infection on your toe?

[F]

I think if they've been done that from the beginning, like to really get into it instead of just, you know, looking at it and giving you antibiotics and painkillers. Most of us still have my leg today.

[B]

How long was it between you having

[A]

the first amputation and the infection appearing on the other leg?

[F]

I don't think it was much, you know, maybe like in a couple of weeks.

[A]

Unbelievably, all of this happened again with her remaining leg. The blister on her toe, it spreading slowly but surely up her foot into her leg again. She was sent to South Africa. And again by that point it had gotten so bad they had to amputate.

[F]

I always said if he turned to that little spot on my toe, maybe I would have been still hurt my legs today. Yes, and I will stuck that to that point. I didn't thought they were so nice at all. And it just upset me, really upset me.

[B]

Anger you as well as upset?

[F]

Oh, yes, I was really angry and I was really upset. And it's true, I cried. One time I got on a plane, killed lamb. I'll never get that. Never.

[A]

She obviously can't move around like she used To. She barely leaves the house now, she says, and her husband, who, remember, is being treated for cancer, is having to do all the chores and the cooking that they once shared. All that and having this long protracted battle with government.

[F]

Well, I think they worrying about the cost of it. Right. I don't think that's fair. How about the people who are struggling? Those are the ones who need conversation, but something fishy going on. But I gonna stick to them. You're damn right I'm going to. I'm going stuck to them.

[G]

Oh, yeah.

[F]

But no, I still will fight. Let's learn.

[A]

So the St. Helena government, which runs the hospital, declined to comment. So for now, that's where our story ends. A criminal surgeon still working and injured Saints still fighting for justice, trying to just move their cases to England. It's so difficult at home now. There are problems in England, of course, but there's also a large attentive press. There is oversight. There is thorough political challenge. There are consequences. Can you say the same for St. Helena? Does that just go with the territory when you're so small and so far away? Or can people reasonably expect better? Vince thinks so.

[B]

It's not good. The island is depopulating, so it's serious. So the dysfunctionality is growing exponentially.

[A]

Catherine is more optimistic.

[I]

It is the most wonderful place to live. If everything is going okay, there are so many positives. What do I see for the future? If you'd asked me this a year ago, I think I would probably have said that it's getting to the stage where it's, you know, last person out, turn the lights off. However, we've had a change of government who seem to put people at the heart of things who are trying to make real changes to stop people leaving the island. And so I am feeling a lot more hopeful now than I was this

[A]

time last year for Jilly, for Patrick and their son Mario, now stuck in a wheelchair where once he was able to walk, stuck in a house up a very steep hill that doesn't meet these new difficult needs he has. Who knows the future for me, I

[F]

don't know what could happen to him if he not around. As long as we can, we'll take care of him. Yeah, as long as we can.

[A]

As and when the situation changes, we will be back in this feed. So do subscribe and you will not miss out. And maybe after all of this, you've still got lots of questions about the place, about the people in this story, maybe how to get to St. Helena for a summer break. Who knows. Email me luke.jonesalways true crime.com luke.jonesways truecrime.com and we'll answer some of your questions in a Q and A soon. Thank you so much for listening. The surge of St. Helena was written and presented by me, Luke Jones. Louisa Adams is the fabulous producer, Elsa Rochester is the exquisite executive producer, and all of this fabulous sound design you've been hearing has been by the wonderful Craig Edmondson.

[E]

Since the dawn of time, humanity has been at war. It has shaped the world around us, and if it somehow feels like we've been here before, it's because we have. I'm David Boris. I'm a military historian and on my new podcast, Hostile History, I take us inside history's most defining wars and rebellions, from Genghis Khan to the war in Iran. Find out how the past can explain the present. Search for and follow Hostile History on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Want more?

[B]

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[B]

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