Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A 76-year-old French woman is stranded in a public hospital in this coastal city, unable to receive surgery for a broken hip and abandoned by her own consulate, according to local residents who have been trying to help her.
Martine Ragné, a French citizen who lived in Mexico City, was walking along Fifth Avenue three weeks ago when she was tripped by a dog’s extended leash, fracturing her hip. The dog’s owner promised to cover her medical expenses but fled when the ambulance arrived.
Since then, Ragné has been bedridden at the IMSS-Bienestar hospital in Playa del Carmen. Hospital staff told her they lack the equipment and surgeon needed to perform the operation. No transfer to another facility has been arranged because she is a foreigner without a CURP — Mexico’s national identification number. The only alternative would be a private clinic, but she has no money.
Ragné owns an apartment and a car in Mexico City but has no home or resources in Playa del Carmen. She has no family in Mexico, and her only documents have expired — her valid ones were stolen.
At her request, several local residents contacted the French Consulate, asking them to help locate her family in France and obtain a birth certificate or identification. The consulate initially said it was reviewing the case but later claimed, without evidence, that Ragné “has a network of contacts in the country and a varied professional activity.”
In a phone call with the patient — made on a smuggled cellphone — consulate staff confirmed her story, but when Ragné said she “didn’t want to cause problems,” they immediately disengaged and falsely stated that she did not want their help or for her family to be contacted.
Ragné’s prolonged confinement has caused severe stress. She has become aggressive with visitors and shouts to be discharged. Given her advanced age, there are fears she may develop irreversible dementia.
The hospital bans cellphones, leaving her isolated. Her only belongings — a bag with a change of clothes and personal items — are kept out of her reach.
People aware of her situation are urging the French Consulate to contact her niece in France and arrange her transfer to a hospital that can perform the surgery.
