Romeo was 3yrs old when he was out with his family in Ikea and began to experience leg pains.
He was taken to Cardiff A&E where it is alleged that he was misdiagnosed with Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP), when in fact he had Purpura Fulminans.
Thankfully his mum, Kate, had the foresight to take pictures, as she feared no one was paying attention to the spread of the purple bruising on his legs.
Sadly, the Defendants in their letter of response, accused Kate of doctoring these photographs which we have then had to prove otherwise through a forensic report.
After over 36 hours of incorrect treatment, Romeo’s diagnosis was correctly changed and the right medication was given, but it was too late, and Rome had to have both of his legs amputated just below his buttocks.
We allege that had the correct treatment have been given to Romeo, he would not have had to have both legs amputated but would have potentially only lost some toes.
Romeo was anaesthetised for 3 of the 6 months he spent recovering in hospital whilst undergoing regular dressing changes to his skin graft areas and stumps.
Romeo also had a stoma fitted to avoid infection in his stumps and buttocks.
Eventually, Romeo was discharged home but spent much of his time lying down as he struggled to sit up. As time passed, Romeo learnt to sit up and walk using his hands.
Due to the Defendants continued denials of liability Romeo was unable to get prosthetics until 2017, on the NHS, but due to his stumps being so small and the weight of the prosthetics it has been difficult for him to adjust to using them.
Romeo has a real fighting spirit and has not let his disability hinder him, he has appeared in “Call the Midwife” and on “spogglebox” (the child’s version of gogglebox) and more recently is getting involved in wheelchair sports.
A couple of days after Romeo’s amputation our Director Alisha Butler went to the hospital to meet Romeo and his family, to go through what had happened and give them their options.
In clinical negligence claims it is always helpful to get the information from the families when it is still fresh in their minds.
Alisha then embarked on the task of gathering evidence such as:
- the medical records,
- witness statements of the family, and
- choosing the best independent experts to provide reports on any breaches of duty by the hospital in the treatment they provided.
Once we had our chosen experts and they had prepared their reports, a conference was held with the experts and the barristers to discuss the case in more detail and what the next steps would be.
After submitting a letter of claim to Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, they denied liability for what happened to Romeo and so we were left with no other option but to prepare to issue court proceedings.
Sadly, Covid hit which delayed us obtaining further medical reports into Romeo’s current conditions and prognosis.
Once restrictions were lifted, we could again press on with gathering our medical evidence together with the evidence of what the family had spent on rehabilitation, aides and appliances for Romeo, as well as adaptations to their home, after moving to a bungalow to accommodate Romeo and his wheelchair which gives him more independence.
Romeo’s claim was recently issued in the High Court London, and we will await the Trusts Defence.
Kate, Romeo’s mum said:
“Due to Fertility issues, we adopted Romeo in 2013 when he was two years old. We were feeling extremely blessed to be a family of four and had just adjusted.
Jon and I worked hard, and our biological daughter Seren (aged 9yrs) and Romeo were in a routine of school/playgroup. We loved life and weekend adventures including going away in our campervan.
Romeo became unwell in January 2015, and we can only describe what happened next as an absolute nightmare! Our family life came crashing down. Eight years on both our children are adapting to their new normal! Our daughter, Seren, also suffered psychological trauma.
Romeo had to adjust to losing his legs and buttocks and still living with the consequences of a stoma despite being reversed. We are just blessed to have family support and Alisha who reminds us the case is for Romeo (and i would like to think Seren too).
We are so proud of how both our children have coped, and we continue to love life as much as possible in our “new normal” I’m not sure about Jon and I as all our energy goes into Seren and Romeo.
This case brings all these devastating memories back when all we want to do is live our life and ensure our two children are well adjusted, love life and have good mental health!”
Alisha Butler said:
“In catastrophic injury claims, parties are usually encouraged to work together under the Rehabilitation Code, but this can be rare in clinical negligence claims, often leaving victims of negligence to return to the hospital that negligently treated them, for more treatment, which can in itself cause trauma.
Gathering evidence in support of claims for medical negligence can take time, often years, as it is important that we know how a person is likely to recover from the negligent treatment. It is important during this time to manage a family’s expectations when the Defendants will not accept liability.
Delays can cause significant distress to the victim and their families with loved ones often having to give up work to care for the person who experienced the negligent treatment.
Something needs to change.
Now that Proceedings have been issued we are hopeful that the Trust see sense and accept liability”
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