Death of Symerien Brooking at Perth Children's Hospital sparks calls for coronial inquest

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The parents of a 10-year-old girl who died in WA's main paediatric hospital last August say their desperate pleas for a brain scan were ignored until it was too late — and they want a coronial inquest.

Transcript

00:00Sharon Morris took over care of Simiri and Brooking when the girl was just 10 days old.

00:07Her and I together, we were just unstoppable. We were a great team.

00:13Simi, as she was known, was born with an extremely rare and complex congenital syndrome

00:19and wasn't expected to live past the age of one.

00:23But with the ongoing love, support and advocacy of Ms Morris

00:27and later her partner, Aaron Bransby, Simi defied the odds.

00:32She was learning to read, she was writing, she was doing all sorts of things

00:36that no one ever thought was possible.

00:38Simi's death last year at Perth Children's Hospital, still too hard to comprehend.

00:44There's just so many emotions running through your head and...

00:49Yeah, just...

00:52It stings a lot.

00:57I'm lost.

01:00And I never thought at my age I'd be lost.

01:08Simi was taken to PCH via ambulance after Ms Morris found her unresponsive on the living room floor.

01:15The 10-year-old had been to the hospital on two earlier occasions last year for seizures,

01:20with ongoing complaints of headaches and noises in her head.

01:24As soon as the ambulance arrived at the ED, Ms Morris says she asked for her daughter to have a brain scan,

01:30or at the very least, for staff to contact Simi's neurologist.

01:35I yelled and I screamed and I begged, but I was not heard.

01:41Seven hours later, after multiple seizures, one that lasted 45 minutes, she was taken for a CT scan.

01:50But it was too late.

01:52And I said, so what you're telling us is our daughter's brain dead?

01:56And he said, yes.

02:00And I was like...

02:01I can't even explain it.

02:07A hospital investigation has deemed Simi's care that night appropriate,

02:12and her death unpreventable.

02:14But Ms Morris and Mr Bransby disagree,

02:17and are pushing for an inquest to understand what caused their daughter's brain bleed,

02:22and why their requests and concerns weren't heard.

02:25I know I need to fight to make sure her death wasn't in vain.

02:29I know I need to fight to make sure other people don't need to go through this.

02:33Health Minister Meredith Hammett stopped short of supporting an inquest,

02:37but says it's her view parents and guardians should be listened to,

02:42and she'd ensure Ms Morris gets answers.

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