27th October 2010:
MASHPEE — Holding back tears, Mashpee resident Brent McFarland stood before the board of selectmen Monday night and asserted his belief that mistakes by town and county officials contributed to the September death of his fiancée.
Kate, 39, whose last name is being withheld at the request of her family, died Sept. 4 after choking on a marshmallow in McFarland’s Mashpee home. It was the night before the couple was going to tell her parents of their engagement, he told the Times Monday.
“Could someone explain to Kate’s loved ones “» how an error of such magnitude could happen?” he asked selectmen during the public comment section of the meeting. “My soulmate died in my arms.”
McFarland blames the town for not properly marking his private road and placing his address on another public road, Jackbon Road, which his property does not abut. He alleges that the fire department’s confusion in using town maps to find his address delayed paramedics in reaching his home the night Kate died.
He also blames the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher who received his 911 call that night, who he says did nothing to help him revive a choking Kate.
McFarland told the selectmen, Town Manager Joyce Mason and audience members — including Fire Chief George Baker, whose department responded to McFarland’s home when Kate was choking — that the town has not handled his home’s address signs properly for years.
McFarland said he hopes town officials will be “proactive, not reactive,” and look into changing the maps public safety officials use to find residents’ homes so a similar tragedy can be prevented.
But he also added that he has faced a “gag order” at town hall since he began looking into the circumstances surrounding Kate’s death. Mason, who did not respond during the meeting, shook her head at the assertion.
2nd November 2010:
MASHPEE — Holding back tears, Mashpee resident Brent McFarland stood before the board of selectmen Monday night and asserted his belief that mistakes by town and county officials contributed to the September death of his fiancée.
Kate, 39, whose last name is being withheld at the request of her family, died Sept. 4 after choking on a marshmallow in McFarland’s Mashpee home. It was the night before the couple was going to tell her parents of their engagement, he told the Times Monday.
“Could someone explain to Kate’s loved ones “» how an error of such magnitude could happen?” he asked selectmen during the public comment section of the meeting. “My soulmate died in my arms.”
McFarland blames the town for not properly marking his private road and placing his address on another public road, Jackbon Road, which his property does not abut. He alleges that the fire department’s confusion in using town maps to find his address delayed paramedics in reaching his home the night Kate died.
He also blames the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher who received his 911 call that night, who he says did nothing to help him revive a choking Kate.
McFarland told the selectmen, Town Manager Joyce Mason and audience members — including Fire Chief George Baker, whose department responded to McFarland’s home when Kate was choking — that the town has not handled his home’s address signs properly for years.
McFarland said he hopes town officials will be “proactive, not reactive,” and look into changing the maps public safety officials use to find residents’ homes so a similar tragedy can be prevented.
But he also added that he has faced a “gag order” at town hall since he began looking into the circumstances surrounding Kate’s death. Mason, who did not respond during the meeting, shook her head at the assertion.
24th January 2011:
MASHPEE – It’s a small sign of relief for a Mashpee man who lost his fiancee in a horrible choking accident.
The town installed a street sign at the end of Brent McFarland’s rural road, officially naming it Carter Lane.
“It gives me a little peace of mind, just a little,” said McFarland.
The sign wasn’t there back on Sept. 4, which he believes delayed the response when EMT’s tried to make their way to his home as his fiancee Kate Gill was choking to death.
“I need an ambulance, my girlfriend’s choking,” he can be heard screaming on the 9-1-1 call.
Until today, the house couldn’t be found on the town maps or the direction books used by rescue crews. That night, McFarland could be heard on the call desperately trying to direct them.
“Minutes went by. They were looking in the wrong area, looking for a road that didn’t exist,” he said.
The town has long-considered McFarland’s street a private way, but town manager Joyce Mason says it’s now officially documented.
“It’s clearly marked now and all the records reflect the new name and we’re moving forward,” she said.
But McFarland has laid some of the blame for his fiancee’s death at the feet of the town, and a 9-1-1 dispatcher he says did little to help him in his panic.
The dispatcher has since resigned while the entire incident remains under investigation. Because the town still considers the road a private way, it plans to bill McFarland for the sign, which he plans to dispute.
