‘Why are you making me sick?’ Nurses in Australia overhear young boy pleading with his mother ‘before making shocking discovery that she was injecting him with FAECES to keep him in hospital
- Mum on trial for allegedly injecting her nine-year-old son’s cannula with faeces
- Nurses allegedly heard the boy remark ‘why are you making me sick’
- 39-year-old Blue Mountains mother-of-four denies the charge
- Defence says the September 27 blood culture was accidental contamination
- The judge-only trial continues at the NSW District Court
A court has heard how a nine-year-old boy admitted to hospital alerted nearby nurses after his mother allegedly injected his cannula with faeces.
The NSW District Court trial of the mother-of-four, who pleaded not guilty, heard testimony from several nurses who allegedly heard the boy remark ‘why are you making me sick?’.
He also allegedly said ‘why are you doing this to me?’ and ‘what did you do to my cannula this time?’ to his mother.
A Blue Mountains mother-of-four, pictured leaving the NSW District Court, has denied a charge that she allegedly injected her son, 9, with feces at Westmead Children’s Hospital
The child was admitted to Sydney’s Westmead Children’s Hospital in 2014 with breathing difficulties from asthma, but soon deteriorated, developing a fever and becoming confused and delirious.
Doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him
His blood culture on September 27, 2014, proved positive for E.coli and one other bowel organism.
His mother has denied the accusation that she injected faeces into her son’s cannula, allegedly making him sick.
The woman’s son, pictured, was aged nine at the time of the alleged offence
The 39-year-old woman who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with using poison to endanger a life.
The judge-only trial heard that the mother was ‘appropriately concerned’ and upset when told about the presence of bacteria in his blood.
The boy’s blood test that proved positive for E.coli came after a number of sterile blood cultures following his admission to hospital on September 2.
A subsequent blood culture was also sterile.
Nursing notes read out in court on Monday revealed that the mother, upon learning of her son’s blood sample results, was ‘appropriately concerned’ and demonstrated distress.
Westmead Children’s Hospital where the alleged offence occurred in 2014
The mother then actively inquired into the outcome of the subsequent blood culture, which came back negative for bacteria.
The defence argues the September 27 blood culture was more likely a result of accidental contamination than deliberate poisoning, and has questioned why further information and expert opinions weren’t obtained.
Under questioning from defence barrister Pauline David, Grace Wong – a specialist paediatrician in the hospital’s child protection unit – insisted the advice of a microbiologist was not required on the matter.
The Crown’s case rests on medical testimony arguing the boy’s positive blood culture was most likely caused by a deliberate injection of faecal material into his intravenous line.
It is also based on the testimony of several nurses who allegedly heard the boy remark ‘why are you making me sick?’, ‘why are you doing this to me?’ and ‘what did you do to my cannula this time?’ to his mother.
Dr Wong defended the decision of medical experts to reject the possibility of accidental sample contamination.
The NSW District Court where the judge-only trial is being held
She disputed Ms David’s suggestion the allegation against the mother is ‘unsubstantiated’.
‘I did not feel it was clinically warranted at the time and I remain of that opinion,’ Dr Wong told the court.
‘My opinion at the time… it was very unlikely to be a contaminant.’
Dr Wong agreed the site of the boy’s cannula was ‘not in good order’ and the cannula had experienced blockages, but said it was unlikely he could have obtained a blood infection in this manner.
A 2014 police video interview with the boy was last week shown in which he denied his mother had poisoned him and said she never manipulated his IV line.
The boy admitted his ‘brain goes all weird’ when he is ill and ‘I just say random stuff’.
The judge-only trial continues before Judge Justin Smith.