A Canadian mother says her eight-year-old daughter suffered horrific injuries and nearly died after a routine procedure to remove her tonsils.
Sarah List of Ontario says her eight-year-old daughter Sarah nearly died after surgery May 16 at McMaster Children’s Hospital, where two children died after undergoing similar procedures, CTV News reported.
The deaths of two children are under investigation and the hospital has suspended all scheduled tonsil and adenoid surgeries until a review is completed.
List told CTV News that Sarah was discharged just hours after having her tonsils removed and everything seemed fine, until she started vomiting blood the next morning.
The “terrified” mother took Sarah back to hospital, where she spent almost three weeks receiving care, which included three additional surgeries and four nights in intensive care.
Sarah List of Ontario says her eight-year-old daughter Sarah nearly died after surgery May 16 at McMaster Children’s Hospital.
“I had a bloodstream infection and I didn’t fully understand until later that it was sepsis,” List told CTV News. ‘She was so lethargic. She was very sleepy.
Sarah, who at one point was put on a ventilator to help her breathe, was scheduled to be discharged after a week of treatment.
But things didn’t go as planned when her tubes were removed and she was allowed to eat solid food.
List says that after eating a hard-boiled egg, Sarah complained about the incision in her neck, and a nurse found “little pieces of hard-boiled egg inside.”
The mother recalled: ‘They discovered there was a hole. A five centimeter hole.
Rosie then had another surgery to repair the hole, which her mother said put her back to square one, and had a feeding tube inserted.
She was discharged after a total of 18 days in the hospital and continues to recover at home.
The deaths of two children are under investigation and the hospital has suspended all scheduled tonsil and adenoid surgeries until a review is completed.
List wants Sarah’s case to be part of the investigation into the deaths of two children at the hospital in May and early June.
List wants the case to be part of the investigation into the deaths of two children at the hospital in May and early June.
One child died one day after surgery in the hospital and the other died nine days after the procedure. The causes of his death have not been revealed.
The hospital has said there is no connection between the two cases and launched an investigation out of “an abundance of caution.”
“Our deepest condolences go out to these families for their tragic loss,” the hospital said in a statement.
“Our teams are in the process of informing patients/families that their scheduled care/surgery is affected.”
Meanwhile, the hospital’s chief of pediatric surgery, Dr. Devin Peterson, said the deaths were “tragic” and “very rare.”
“McMaster Children’s Hospital is a leading pediatric center and we take this responsibility very seriously,” he said.
