Perth girl given Panadol, discharged from hospital after breaking her neck
A Perth family is demanding answers after an eight-year-old girl was discharged from hospital with a broken neck.
Little Ava Amato was sent home with Panadol and Nurofen on Saturday, after she was taken to Joondalup Hospital following a quad bike crash in Cervantes.
Luckily, Ava was wearing a helmet during the holiday adventure, but was told by staff at the hospital her neck pain was muscle soreness.
Two days layer, an MRI confirmed the schoolgirl had four fractured vertebrae and a severed ligament.
“I was angry, I was sad,” Ava’s mother Nicole Amato said.
“They’re doctors, I’m just a mum.”
After being rushed to Joondalup, Ava had an X-ray but was discharged because she had no loss of consciousness, no tenderness during tests and completed a normal neurological examination.
But by Monday, a radiologist reviewed Ava’s X-ray and found the mistake.
“If she had’ve had any more trauma to her neck, she could have potentially ended up in a wheelchair,” Mrs Amato said.
Joondalup Hospital has written a letter to the Amato’s, offering its sincere apologies for the distressing experience and ordered a review.
A hospital spokesperson told 7 News, Ava’s injuries were a “complex and unusual case”.
“Doctors were extremely surprised and distressed when the fractures were later diagnosed,” the hospital said.
Ava has since undergone emergency surgery at Princess Margaret Hospital and will wear a neck brace for three months.
“If someone comes in with spinal damage, it needs to be assessed straight away, not two days later,” Mrs Amato said.
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