I wasn’t listened to by GP or hospital staff when I told them my son had swallowed battery
€220k settlement and apologies for boy, 6
A MOTHER was not listened to when she told a GP and hospital staff that her infant son had swallowed a battery – which remained in his throat for nine days, resulting in serious injuries.
Six-year-old Aaron Sikorski received an apology from the HSE and his GP yesterday along with a €220,000 settlement following his ordeal.
The High Court heard yesterday that Aaron was 14 months old when his mother Marlena saw him choking on the floor next to an open drawer at 10.15am on July 25, 2018.
Their barrister, Damien Higgins, said Marlena thought the drawer had been cleared, but knowing that it had been where batteries had been stored previously, she feared Aaron may have swallowed a small button battery, of the type used in watches.
Mr Higgins said that swallowing such a battery was extremely dangerous if it was not detected through a chest X-ray and removed within a 48-hour period.
He said that contrary to what many people thought, this was not because acid leaked from the battery, but because saliva triggered a chemical reaction which could burn through the oesophagus (gullet).
Due to a failure by Aaron’s GP and local hospital to follow up swiftly on the mother’s concerns, and order a chest X-ray, it was nine and a half days before the battery was removed.
By then it had burned a hole through the oesophagus which required surgery to repair.
Marlena Sikorski, of Galway Road, Tuam, rushed her son to her local GP, Máire McGarry at Tuam Family Practice, explaining her concern about the battery at 11am that same day.
However, Mr Higgins said the GP said the child’s symptoms of coughing and spluttering suggested he had a throat infection, and discharged him with medication for the infection.
As Aaron was having breathing difficulties, his mother took him the following day to the emergency department of Galway University Hospital.
Mr Higgins said the nursing records clearly stated that the boy’s mother had explained about the battery, but he said no action was taken which could have spared Aaron any injury.
On August 2, the pair returned to the GP, where an examination was carried out and it was thought he had mild croup, the court heard.
The next day they returned to the hospital, where a chest X-ray was taken which showed a foreign body.
He was given emergency surgery to remove the battery, and then transferred to Crumlin Children’s Hospital for further surgery to close a passageway which had been burnt through from his oesophagus to his trachea (windpipe).
Mr Higgins said Aaron had been left with extensive permanent surgical scarring and psychological trauma.
It was claimed the GP had failed to rule out the possibility that Aaron could have ingested a battery.
It was also claimed that the HSE, as operator of Galway University Hospital, had failed to exercise due care, competence and judgment in its treatment of Aaron, and had failed to arrange a chest X-ray.
Left with extensive scarring and trauma
Breach of duty admitted by HSE
Mr Higgins said the HSE had admitted a breach of duty, but a settlement of €220,000 had been reached without admission of liability by the GP, who denied the claims.
Both defendants apologised for the treatment Aaron received.
In the apology, which was read to the court, they said: ‘We would like to offer you our sincere apologies for the treatment that Aaron received from us in 2018.
‘We regret the distress and anxiety which you and your family have experienced.’
Speaking after Judge Paul Coffey had approved the settlement, solicitor Johan Verbruggen, of Callan Tansey, said: ‘This is every parent’s worst nightmare.
‘Marlena told multiple doctors over three days, that she feared her one-year-old boy had swallowed a battery.
‘A simple X-ray would have confirmed that, but the opportunities to arrange one were missed.
‘All the while, the battery was leaking and corroding Aaron’s throat. Simply put, had Marlena been listened to, Aaron would not have suffered these horrific injuries.’