A children’s hospital has unconditionally expressed remorse and assented to pay a remarkable sum of €5 million to the mother and father of a two-year-old toddler suffering from brain injury after being admitted there shortly after her birth. The little girl, Kitty Mae Hayes from Rosscarbery, Cork has severe cerebral palsy, epilepsy and visual impairment.
The senior attorney defending her case discussed the “continuous severe shortcomings in the care” experienced at the Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) hospital based in Crumlin. The court acknowledged liability in the case and allocated an interim sum of €5 million to provide for the next four years.
An apology was issued by the CHI Hospital’s acting chief executive Fiona Murphy and it was publicly acknowledged when the High Court action was settled on Kitty Mae’s behalf. It expressed regret for the “insufficiencies in the medical attention provided to your child Kitty Mae within the hospital which resulted in the severe injuries she suffered”. It further addressed the “deep regret for the life-altering events that have befallen Kitty Mae and her loved ones as well as the terrible hardship and distress they’ve endured as a consequence of these developments”.
The court initially addressed the case only for the estimation of damages. Kitty Mae was moved to CHI Crumlin following her birth in Cork on the 13th of October, 2022 owing to an identified systolic heart murmur. An uncommon abnormality pertaining to the veins was found in her brain. Kitty’s senior counsel, Jeremy Maher, explained to the court that the ailment was readily treatable through a procedure known as the embolization of the vein, but “continual failures resulted in tragic outcomes”.
By Mr Maher’s account, who was advised by Cian O’Carroll solicitors, the key argument was that the vein embolization should have ideally been performed within a few days post the 5th of November, 2022. He pointed out that the public health system is unsuitable for children with cerebral palsy and Kitty Mae’s parents had been compelled to seek therapies in countries such as Poland, Canada and the United Kingdom for their little girl.
Lisa Ronan and Declan Hayes, the parents of Kitty Mae, expressed the immense stress their family has undergone while seeking justice for their daughter during their court appearance. Kitty Mae had initiated legal action against CHI through her mother. The future actions for emotional distress from the parents are yet to be heard in court.
Lisa revealed that her daughter first experienced seizures on the evening of the 5th of November. This was followed by a month of persistent seizures, resulting in the administration of anti-epileptic treatment. Lisa, filled with doubt and tears, questioned whether the correct measures were being taken for her child. She felt that Kitty Mae had not been adequately cared for and said that she and her husband were provided with limited information and left isolated.
A MRI scan taken on the 28th of November revealed severe white matter damage to Kitty Mae’s brain. Despite this, the doctors inquired of the parents whether they would approve of an embolisation procedure on the vein. To this, Lisa responded affirmatively. Addressing Ms Justice Denise Brett, she stated, “The rarity of a condition should not justify a lack of adequate care”.
Following the court proceedings, the family publicly disclosed what they termed as a ‘sequence of horrific mistakes’ from the time they admitted Kitty Mae to the Children’s Heart Centre at CHI Crumlin, four days post her birth. Despite reassurances by senior consultants of an effective vein malformation treatment using neurointerventional radiology at another hospital, their daughter’s condition worsened. They were told how lucky Kitty Mae was to be a patient at the ‘premier ward in the finest hospital in Europe’.
But the family stated, “We urged them to take her rapidly declining health seriously. Our inability to make them listen to us continues to haunt us.” Kitty Mae’s case is scheduled for review in court in four years to evaluate her future care needs.