New law Holly’s legacy
Parents of girl who died at rodeo call for risk reform
THE parents of a girl who died at Laura Races and Rodeo want a new law in her honour after watching their “beautiful Holly die in the dirt”.
Holly Winta Brown, 17, had her whole life in front of her and wanted to be a vet. Instead she died on June 27, 2015, from what her mother Elle Brown labelled as a “grossly inadequate” emergency response.
“We witnessed mistake after mistake and watched our beautiful Holly die in the dirt,” Elle Brown said.
The inquest into Holly’s death came to an emotional close yesterday as her parents spoke of their heartbreak and anger over the tragedy.
Mrs Brown said that during a week when they should have been comforting their son William, whose friend drowned in a dam on Australia Day, she and her husband Warren were making sure their daughter’s death “was investigated and she gets justice”.
“How much is a life worth? Is it worth the same as an am- bulance – $94 an hour?” Mrs Brown said.
There was no ambulance at the event when Holly died, with the nearest one an hour and 40 minutes away.
Her father, Warren Brown, pushed for standardised laws for the emergency planning and risk assessment for country events – and he asked that it be called Holly’s Law.
“I don’t blame the nurses, they were thrown into a situation … where I don’t think they could handle it,” Mr Brown said. “I do hold a bit of blame towards the boss of the nurses at Laura Clinic.”
The three nurses at the Laura Primary Health Care Centre were inexperienced in remote placement work. Two were on fatigue leave, meaning their phones were switched off, at the time Holly was found unconscious by her father about 9am. When they finally arrived about an hour later they were without critical equipment, which hadn’t been restocked.
Bad communication lines meant the first on-call nurse didn’t arrive on scene until 9.50am.
Mrs Brown believes the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service was “grossly negligent”.
“I question why three clinic nurses weren’t debriefed and put under close supervision and offered more training after Holly died,” Mrs Brown said.
The inquest into Holly’s death has been adjourned until February 19.