A young man alleged to have suffered brain damage both during, and shortly after, his birth at Sligo General Hospital has sued for damages.
Thomas O’Connor, now aged 18, is blind, profoundly disabled with spastic quadriplegis and has to be fed through a tube, the High Court heard.
Desmond O’Neill SC, for Mr O’Connor, said his side’s experts will say two alleged episodes of oxygen deprivation, the first during the child’s delivery and the second when he was less than one hour old, contributed to the brain damage.
Mr O’Connor requires 24 hour care and has been in residential care since aged 12, counsel said. His mother visits him daily and he goes home for weekends and holidays.
Through his mother, Ann O’Connor, Ard Curley, Collooney, Co Sligo, Mr O’Connor has sued the HSE and a consultant, Dr Carthage Carroll, who practices at Sligo General Hospital, over the management and care of his mother’s labour, and over his birth and care, at Sligo General Hospital on September 6th, 1996.
It is alleged there was failure by the HSE to ensure Mrs O’Connor was competently and properly managed, cared for and supervised while she was at Sligo General Hospital.
It is further claimed there was failure to inform Dr Carroll of abnormal CTG results in a timely fashion and delay in carrying out a caesarean. It is also alleged an ineffective resuscitation with a malpositioned tube was later carried out.
The HSE denies all claims.
In his defence, Dr Carroll also denies all claims against him and pleads he was not made aware of the abnormal CTG trace prior to his arrival on the ward at 7.50am. Once he inspected the CTG trace, he acted with appropriate urgency and speed, he says.
Opening the case, Mr O’Neill said what happened was “extraordinary and inexplicable”.
The CTG trace was discontinued at 5.30am when it was inappropriate to do so in circumstances where the trace was displaying the baby was in distress, counsel said. The CTG was recommenced at 7.00am, he said.
Between 4.30am and 8.00am, there was clear evidence of foetal distress, Mr O’Neill said.
He said the consultant had examined Mrs O’Connor at about 8.10am. An emergency caesarean was carried out at 9am which his side argued was four hours later than it should have been.
When Thomas was born, he showed no signs of life. He began gasping four minutes later and a tube was inserted to assist his ventilation and breathing, counsel said. The tube was inserted to a depth of 14cm when it should have been put in at between 9cm and 10cm, he said.
Counsel said the baby was not effectively ventilated, had a heart attack and ceased to breathe on the way from the delivery theatre to the ICU at about 9.25am.
Over the next 30 minutes, all efforts were made to revive the baby and it was not until 9.55 am the location of the tube was discovered, he said.
His experts would say the tube should have been checked and there was a lack of oxygen which resulted in brain damage. They woud also say both episodes of oxygen deprivation contributed to the brain damage which has left Thomas severely disabled.
In evidence, Ann O’Connor said her husband Tom had told her they had a boy and he was very, very ill.
She said she thought Thomas was a “normal baby” until he was a year old when a paediatrician told her her son had severe brain damage when he was born due to a lack of oxygen.
“He said he wouldn’t lead a normal life and he would more or less be confined to a wheelchair,” she said.
The case before Mr Justice Raymond Fullam continues.