Protest outside Limassol General Hospital for 4-year-old Mario, who is being treated at Makarios Hospital in a brain-dead state, after being diagnosed with viral meningitis.

The protest was organized by the 4-year-old’s family, who called on the public to join them in demanding answers regarding the circumstances under which the child’s health deteriorated, with the family alleging medical malpractice.

In statements to reporters, the mother of 4-year-old Marios demanded accountability.

“It’s unacceptable for a baby with meningitis to develop edema and intussusception, and for you to come and give him only fever reducers. To take him to Makareio Hospital on July 13, tell me that everything is fine, and then have my baby die on the 14th of the month. In the end, you got a lot of things wrong medically. Just as they told me on the 14th of the month—that your baby would be blind, right in front of the baby itself—in the end, the one who told me that was wrong about that, too. My baby didn’t go blind—he was left brain-dead. I would have accepted it if he’d gone blind because I would have had him with me. I would have been his eyes, but my baby didn’t end up blind. They were wrong about that, too—my baby ended up brain-dead. The only thing this government has to do is deliver justice—and this time with humanity and a hand on the heart—for a soul that’s gone and so many others who may be gone or have already passed away but didn’t have the strengthto come forward and speak out. I will see this through to the end. Responsibility must be assigned, and I will not stand by and let it go unaddressed. Responsibility will be assigned; whoever needs to go to prison with the murderers must go.”

“I asked for a neurologist; they told me there wasn’t one. I asked for an infectious disease specialist; no one showed up,” he added, stating that it is unthinkable for there to be no pediatric hospital in Limassol.

The protest took place amid a heavy police presence, a fact that provoked a reaction and discontent among the protesters.