Six-month-old boy died after 'waiting for hungry paramedics to eat lunch' after he was 'fatally misdiagnosed'
A six-month-old boy who died after he was allegedly misdiagnosed at a New South Wales hospital was forced to wait up to four hours for an ambulance because 'paramedics needed lunch', an inquest has heard.
Kyran Day was admitted to Shoalhaven Hospital on the south coast on October 19, 2013 and died three days later after he was allegedly misdiagnosed with gastroenteritis, News Corp reports.
The infant was actually suffering from a bowel obstruction and the correction was not made until 20 hours after his parents, Naomi and Grant Day, took him to see the first doctor.
A day later, Kyran was formally diagnosed as having a bowel obstruction and was rushed to the Sydney Children’s Hospital for specialist surgery, suffering several cardiac arrests.
The little boy was successfully operated on and put on life support.
Kyran died because his brain was starved of oxygen, his ventilator was turned off on October 22.
The Day family has since spoken of their heartbreak in losing their son and say they have been through “hell” but they now just want justice for Kyran's legacy.
“We will fight and continue to fight for change and Kyran's legacy for all the babies, children and parents without a voice,” Mr Day wrote on Facebook.
Mrs Day also took to Facebook her heartbreak and frustration:
“This is our 3rd year now and it's been hell but we will keep going until we have answers and justice for Kyran James day (sic)"
Wearing badges with Kyran’s face, Mr and Mrs Day are expected to testify during a two-week coronial inquest at Glebe Coroner's Court.
The inquest will be looking into the actions of staff from Shoalhaven Hospital as well as paediatrician Dr Toby Greenacre, two Shoalhaven nurses, the Newborn Emergency Transport Service and NSW Ambulance.
News Corp reports that the issues being focused on are the diagnosis and treatment of Kyran and the communication between staff at Shoalhaven Hospital.
The inquest will also hear why a request for a helicopter from the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service was rejected, and why a nurse wasn’t present in the ambulance escorting Kyran to hospital.
There was a previous inquest hearing on the morning of October 20, and it is reported Dr Greenacre claimed he had “more urgent cases” at the time and didn’t attend to Kyran until 10.30am.
Kyran’s grandmother was the one who noticed her grandson’s condition had dramatically changed, News Corp reports.
The first ambulance that was sent to pick up the infant was called off because the crew needed a lunch break and the second had a patient inside and said they needed to eat before driving for two-hours to Sydney.
When the ambulance eventually left Shoalhaven, it was diverted to Shellharbour Hospital because the six-month-old needed to be resuscitated because he wasn’t breathing properly.
After four hours, Kyran was flown to Sydney.
A spokesperson for the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District spoke with Yahoo7 regarding the matter and said she is unable to comment on the issue at the moment due to the inquest.
"As the matter is currently being heard before the NSW Coroner, it is not appropriate to make any comment at this time," she said.
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