Two Melbourne sisters have been left horrified after hidden camera footage revealed their disabled brother being brutally assaulted by a male nurse.
Effie Stagnitti and Zoe Bonello positioned a camera inside their brother, Billy Aivaliotis’s, hospital room after noticing unexplained bruises, weight loss and changes in his behaviour.
Their worst nightmare was confirmed when on reviewing footage they witnessed a male nurse performing the unthinkable on their defenseless brother, A Current Affair reports.
Sisters Effie Stagnitti (left) and Zoe Bonello (right) have been left horrified after hidden camera footage revealed their disabled brother being brutally assaulted by a male nurse
Parts of the disturbing video show the male hospital employee allegedly grabbing the 33-year-old patient around the throat and choking him.
Mr Aivaliotis, who was born with cerebral palsy, was being treated in a brain injuries unit at Caulfield Hospital after being involved in a car accident in May last year.
He was unable to communicate his mistreatment to his family, but their suspicions arose following dramatic weight loss, bruising, and a constant look of sadness on his face.
‘To actually get it on footage and see it, it’s the worst experience you can possibly go through,’ Mrs Stagnitti said.
The video was shot on January 22 when Mr Aivaliotis’ family resorted to the measure after they claimed their complaints to hospital staff were falling on deaf ears.
Police are investigating after footage emerged showing a nurse allegedly abusing and manhandling a defenceless patient at a Melbourne hospital
‘To actually get it on footage and see it, it’s the worst experience you can possibly go through,’ Mrs Stagnitti said.
‘Nobody deserves to be treated like that,’ Mrs Bonello said.
‘Every time I would look at him, I could just see the sadness. I could see that he was trying to tell me something, but it was like he was stuck in his own little bubble.’
The nurse has been stood down from the Caulfield Hospital and no longer works for Alfred Health.
‘The video material presented to us by the family is distressing and shocking, and not in keeping with the culture of advanced care patients and families should experience in our hospitals,’ a spokesperson said.
A man aged in his 30s, from Cranbourne West, has been interviewed by police and released, pending further inquiries.
Mr Aivaliotis (pictured), who was born with cerebral palsy, was being treated in a brain injuries unit at Caulfield Hospital after being involved in a car accident in May last year.
The footage was filmed at Caulfield Hospital (pictured) on January 22
Nicholas Korkliniewski from Arnold Thomas and Becker said the law firm will ensure the nurse involved in the footage and the hospital are held to ensure.
‘They had made their concerns known to the wider nursing staff but they fell on deaf ears,’ family lawyer Nick Korkliniewski told AAP.
‘Billy suffers from cerebral palsy, has been hit by a car, and now this.
‘His brain injury is such that he was not properly able to articulate what was happening.’
The family has launched civil proceedings against the hospital as police investigations continue.