Kyle Gallagher: Tradie’s desperate text messages from hospital asking for help hours before she died at STARS at Brisbane’s Metro North Hospital
Distressed parents demand to know what hospital care their dying son received in his final desperate hours.
Kyle Gallagher, 22, tried to contact his mother and father complaining he was not getting help breathing before he died at a Brisbane rehabilitation center on July 14.
Kyle’s death, which came a month after he suffered a serious brain injury in a motorbike accident, is now the subject of a coronial inquest.
The night he died, the young roofer texted his father, Matty Gallagher, saying, “I need something to help me breathe.”
He sent another heartbreaking message to his father, which read: “They’re not giving me anything and I won’t last long.”
The death of Kyle Gallagher, which came a month after he was seriously injured in a motorbike crash, is now the subject of a coronial inquest.
Two of the anguished messages the young trader sent to his father before his death
Kyle also contacted his mother, Christina Dargusch, by ringing her phone, but she was unable to answer.
Ms Dargusch only realized her son had called the next morning, shortly after learning he had died under the care of the Surgery, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS).
STARS is part of Brisbane’s Metro North Hospital, located in Herston.
‘Why did he die? For what?’ Mr Gallagher demanded to know 7News.
Both parents want to understand exactly what checks were done on their son before his death.
Kyle Gallagher, 22, tried to contact his mother and father complaining he was not getting help breathing before he died at a Brisbane rehabilitation center on July 14.
Kyle Gallagher was hospitalized multiple times after suffering a brain injury in a motorcycle accident a month before his death.
They now realize that Kyle’s attempts to contact them were because “he knew he was dying.”
They expected Kyle to make a full recovery after the accident left him with broken bones and post-traumatic amnesia.
The brain injury prevented him from remembering the accident, said his stepmother, Tegan Samorowski.
“Sometimes he would move and feel pain and ask, ‘Daddy, why am I in so much pain?'” Mr Gallagher said.
At some point, Kyle was released from the hospital.
Still in pain, he returned to the hospital emergency room the next day.
His family invoked the “Ryan Rule,” wanting to control his medical decisions, but hospital officials said he was of sound mind and could make his own decisions as an adult.
Kyle Gallagher’s desperate father, Matty Gallagher, demands to know why his son died when he couldn’t breathe. Pictured: Mr Gallagher with Kyle’s mother-in-law, Tegan Samorowski
STARS told 7News in a statement that its staff was supporting Kyle’s family but could not comment further as a coronial inquest was underway.
The Queensland Health Ombudsman is also investigating.
It is understood that the ombudsman and coroner will take at least three months to report their respective findings.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Health and the Office of the Health Ombudsman for comment.
