Mable Combs
By Patricia Jackson
My name is Patricia Jackson, and I wrote on behalf of my friend, Dorothy, who passed away in prison due to COVID-19 in 2021. I and many others who are still here are in mourning, because we have lost another friend and great woman because of medical indifference. Her name was Mable Combs. On Wednesday, January 5, 2022, Mable was having problems using the bathroom—she told many of us in the dorm and we even told the nurses of her situation. No one took her seriously at first, not even myself, because Mable was also considered to be somewhat on the mental side, and because she played a lot, we in the dorm thought she wanted attention. Medical staff shunned her numerous times, even the head nurse.
Later that day Mable was finally taken to the hospital, where a few hours later, she died. The chaplain of the facility came to our dorm and announced Mable's death to be a heart attack. We, in this place, including security, are distraught and still grieving this situation that could have been prevented.
With that being said, I will now tell you and her family the sweet and playful side of Mable. She loved to listen to music and dance, her indulgence was sodas, which we tried to restrict/limit her from because of her mental condition too much caffeine would make her another person! (smile) When I first met Mable, I thought her to be somewhat strange. We were in the chapel and Mable was jumping around and singing this song called "Jesus Will Work It Out." All of a sudden, her skirt fell to the floor and the whole church fell silent, while Mable picked her skirt up and sat down on the pew in front of me. Mable turned around and stared at me which then made me notice she had eye glasses on without lenses.....I looked at Mable and asked, "Mable, can you see?" Mable then looked at me and responded, "Can you see?" She then turned around and gave her full attention to the service! That shut me up and put me in my place......(LOL)
For Christmas, our dorm held a Lip Sync Battle, and Mable won 1st place, singing a Whitney Houston love song. A couple of months before Christmas, although Mable was a Lifer, she was granted by the Pardon Board and she was waiting for another hearing from the next board to finalize everything.
I want Mable's family to know that so many of us in this place loved Mable and will always love her we'll never understand why the story had to end this way. But none of us wrote the story.... the beginning or the ending.
Dear Family of Mable: I would like you to know that Mable truly believed in prayer at all times of the day and night. Mable was glued to the floor, on her knees. She stayed on her knees so long people would have to help her up! (smile) Mable truly believed in God, so when you celebrate her new life, smile for her because she is truly FREE!
Her friend, Patricia Jackson