The father of Aoife Johnston, a 16-year-old schoolgirl who died of meningitis in 2022 after being left without antibiotics for over 13 hours at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), has died.
James Johnston was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer in the summer of 2024. While dealing with his illness, he continued to fight for justice for his daughter, whose death attracted significant public attention, particularly in relation to the conditions in the midwest hospital.
In a post on social media, the Mid West Hospital Campaign said it was “Thinking of Carol, Meagan, Kate Johnston and their family on the sad loss of their Dad James. Reunited with his beloved daughter Aoife.”
Last year, the family said the trauma of their “fight for justice” had “taken a toll” on his physical health.
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At the time, he was being treated in the hospital in which Aoife had died.
A 2024 report by the former chief justice Frank Clarke found that UHL’s emergency department was “significantly understaffed” and had an “inadequate” and “ad hoc” system to escalate concerns about patients’ conditions deteriorating at the time.
Aoife Johnston’s death, he said, was “almost certainly avoidable”.
