Little girl taken to hospital with runny nose ends up in wheelchair with brain damage
A father has revealed how his little girl went from battling a runny nose and cough to life in a wheelchair with brain damage.
Auckland father Stephen Logan told Yahoo7 how a phone call he received while at work in June, 2016, changed his life forever.
It was from his wife Mele who had been concerned about their daughter Jeanette becoming ill from a virus.
“She told me to get to the hospital – pronto,” Mr Logan said.
Little Jeanette, who turns four next week, was born with three holes in her heart.
On that day in 2016, Mr Logan said she was coughing, had a runny nose and “didn’t seem like herself”. Her parents had previously taken her to the doctor to get antibiotics but they didn’t seem to be working.
The father said he arrived at hospital to see his daughter with tubes hanging out of her.
“She was rushed to hospital and it was found her glucose level was low and her potassium was really high,” her father said.
“She was basically placed on a hospital drip and then had a heart attack. We were told she wouldn’t survive the night.”
Doctors performed 45 minutes of CPR on the girl and used a heart bypass machine to try and save her.
Fortunately, they saved Jeanette but she was left with permanent brain damage.
Footage shows hooded man wanted over mum found dead in garage
Shocking post reveals heartbreaking reality of drought for NSW farmers
“She was left with brain damage to the motor skills part of her brain,” he said.
“She’s had to start from scratch and learn how to crawl and grab.”
Mr Logan said while his daughter will never be the same she’s still “a real socialite” and “always has a smile on her face”.
“She loves being around other kids,” he said.
“She’s also back at day care five days a week.”
Jeanette’s runny nose and subsequent diagnosis are the focus of an ongoing investigation by Accident Compensation New Zealand.
Findings of the investigation, published in the NZ Herald last month, state doctors failed to recognise the little girl had ongoing respiratory distress.
However, the hospital’s chief medical officer claims there was nothing more than could have been done for Jeanette at the time.
The case has been referred to the Director-General of Health.
