A heartbroken mother lost her ‘cheeky and mischievous’ three-year-old daughter after a surgeon accidentally cut one of her arteries during an operation to remove a tumour.
Caitlyn Parry was rushed to intensive care after the surgery in March 2010 but doctors were unable to save her.
Her mother Sian, 37, of Mold, north Wales, knew the toddler ‘was gone’ when medics told her she was critical.
She told the Liverpool Echo: ‘I think I might have woken every child in the hospital by screaming when she died.
‘She was just at the beginning of her life, a cheeky, mischievous, happy soul and a lively character.
‘She didn’t die from cancer – she died from a surgeon that cut her arteries.’
Caitlyn Parry (pictured), three, died after her arteries were cut during an operation to remove a cancerous tumour in March 2010
The three-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in February 2010, but had been ‘doing well’ before her operation
Her mother told the newspaper Caitlyn had seemed to be coping okay with chemotherapy after the shock cancer diagnosis in February 2010.
She added: ‘I’d been concerned about her from about six months old, as her heart was racing at night, she was always thirsty and her chicken pox left a purple bruise.
‘But I was told I was being over-anxious. Eventually I put my foot down and got a scan in February.
‘After the surgery and with more chemotherapy planned, they had said she’d be 97-98% towards being clear of it.’
But after Caitlin’s death she says she has suffered from depression.
She told The Echo: ‘We’ve got no trust in the NHS now, so find hospitals hard and I question everything and everyone in my life.
Her mother Sian (pictured), 37, said: ‘I think I might have woken every child in the hospital by screaming when she died’
‘It’s been a struggle for my eldest daughter Danielle , as she felt the little one was the priority and like Caitlyn meant more to me.’
A report by Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool found two major arteries were divided during the operation to remove a Wilms tumour – a cancerous growth in the kidney most commonly found in children.
The hospital apologised and reportedly reached a settlement with Caitlyn’s family, but Ms Parry has said she had to fight to discover the truth.
The report allegedly said the surgeon had mistakenly believed the arteries were feeding into the tumour.
Toddler Caitlyn is pictured with her now heartbroken mother Sian, of Mold, north Wales
A second surgeon was also reportedly supposed to be present but had been unable to attend because of another operation.
The report said ‘it would have been better’ if the second surgeon had been present, and no such conflict should have occurred.
It found ‘no evidence of recklessness or carelessness’ and stated that the operation had been carried out in a ‘controlled and competent fashion’.
An Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Trust spokesman said: ‘This settlement relates to treatment received in 2010.
‘We deeply regret what happened to Caitlyn and we have apologised to the family for failures in care that the Trust acknowledged following a full investigation.
‘Alder Hey cares for many complex patients and we always strive to maintain the highest standards.
‘When we do not meet those standards, we work with our teams to investigate, learn and improve practice.’
The three-year-old was described as ‘cheeky and mischievous’. Pictured is her grave
The operation that caused Caitlyn’s death was carried out at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool (pictured)