A young boy has been awarded a €15 million settlement after he was severely injured during his birth at the Coombe Hospital.
The hospital failed to monitor Eoin McCallig’s heart rate on the morning of his birth. It is believed that the hospital staff stopped monitoring his heart at 9. 30 am.
The boy was deprived of oxygen 20 minutes before he was delivered at 11:30 am. The young boy cannot talk or walk, he can only communicate with his eyes.
The court was told that if he received the correct treatment, he would not have suffered such severe injuries.
His parents stated that if the hospital staff monitored their son properly, they would have noticed that the baby was in distress.
The Coombe Hospital has issued an apology to the four-year-old boy and his family.
Eoin McCallig's father said the state spent 800 million in last 10 years fighting these types of cases. He said the money could be better spent, improving hospitals, building houses for the homeless, providing respite for struggling families of kids with special needs.
— Orla O'Donnell (@Orlaodo) November 21, 2017
Anthony McCallig said his son’s injuries caused major heartache for the family, but they have chosen to forgive the hospital for their mistake.
The father admitted that even though they’ve forgiven the hospital, they refuse to forgive the HSE for the way they dealt with their case.
He stated that their case should have been sorted sooner, because “early intervention is crucial” for Eoin.
He believed that families involved in such harrowing cases should be treated with more respect.
He also expressed his disapproval at the amount of money the HSE spent on cases like Eoin’s. It is understood that the HSE has spent €800 million in similar cases in the past ten years.
The dad believes that they could use that money in so many better ways, rather than putting families through emotionally draining and intense hearings.
Eoin McCallig's father, Anthony, hits out at the HSE for its handling of birth injury cases pic.twitter.com/PsdeVDTBiz
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 21, 2017
Mr Justice Peter Kelly, who is the president of the High Court, agreed with the young boy’s father and believed that there must be a better way of handling cases involving severely injured children.
They both expressed that the cases cause too much stress for families.
However, the judge believed that the €15 million settlement was “fair and just.” Last week, an offer of €13.4 million was made by the hospital, but it was declined by the family as it would not cover the extensive costs of Eoin's medical care.
His father shared that nobody would put themselves in young Eoin’s position for any amount of money.
The parents shared that they are relieved that Eoin will be financially stable for the rest of his life, but no amount of money will ever change what happened to their boy.
