A young boy is blind, brain-damaged, doubly incontinent and requires 24-hour care after undergoing a procedure at a Cork hospital at the age of two, it has been claimed in the High Court.
Darragh Crowley, now aged seven, sustained catastrophic injuries as a result of negligence and inadequate monitoring of him after an operation at Cork University Hospital, it is claimed.
Through his mother, Hannah Crowley of Tullig, Millstreet, Co Cork, Darragh has sued the Southern Health Board; Muhammed Rafay Zafar, a neurosurgical registrar practising at the hospital; Peter Kennefick, a consultant anaesthetist; Julian Cahill, an intern; Imbad Ali, a medical registrar; Amy Lee Chong, a senior house officer; and Charles Marks, a consultant neurosurgeon. The defendants deny the claims.
It is claimed Darragh was admitted to the hospital on September 17th, 2000, and that, during his subsequent treatment, he came under the care of the defendants. He was admitted for a shunt revision, a shunt having been originally fitted on April 27th, 1998, just days after his birth, in relation to a malformation of his brain. The shunt was fitted to facilitate the movement of fluid around the brain.
It is claimed a CT scan carried out some hours later showed the shunt system was not working.
Darragh suffered respiratory arrest and was taken to theatre where the shunt system was revised, it is claimed. From that time on, it is alleged, he was a brain-damaged child.
Darragh had further multiple shunt revisions and infections and remains severely brain damaged, Mr Justice O'Donovan was told.
Ms Crowley, a nurse, said Darragh was born on April 20th, 1998. She said he was transferred to Cork University Hospital for a condition of the skull that was like "a bun" at the back of his head. He had undergone surgery and was excellent afterwards, she said.
On September 16th, 2000, he had vomited and she had taken him to her GP and he was hospitalised. On September 17th, he was taken to the hospital theatre and had an anaesthetic. She was later told one part of the shunt had been fractured and the tubing had been replaced.
The hearing resumes on Tuesday.