The Health Service Executive has told an inquest into the death of 16-year-old girl Niamh McNally, who died at University Hospital Limerick in January 2024, that they apologised unreservedly for the “failings” that ultimately led to her death.
The teenager’s mother, Carolyn O’Neill, said that “nobody came” to her help in the hospital even though she had shouted four times for assistance when her daughter was dying. Niamh was her only child, she said, and she was a widow, and the bond between mother and daughter was very close.
The 16-year-old, who had a congenital heart defect and scoliosis, had been readmitted to hospital on January 29th by ambulance while coughing up blood and died that night.
She had previously been admitted to the hospital on January 9th, where she was remained for 14 days while being treated for a collapsed lung before being discharged on January 23rd.
However, the inquest into her death which opened at Limerick coroner’s court in Kilmallock this morning heard that 6 days later, her mother had rushed home after receiving a video call from her daughter who was unable to speak because she “had so much blood in her mouth”. .
“I got up early to go shopping and I text her at 11.30am to see how she was. I received a video call in response because she couldn’t communicate because she had so much blood in her mouth. It was just mouthfuls and mouthfuls of blood. I thought she would be dead by the time I got home,” Ms O Neill told the inquest.
When she got home she witnessed a “horrific scene” of her daughter covered in blood, the Irish Times reported.
However, it was three hours after their arrival that her teenage daughter saw a doctor, Ms O’Neill said, and Niamh was then moved to a corridor for about three hours.
“She was deteriorating,” the teenager’s mother said. “Nobody came to my help after four times shouting that I need help. She turned around at that stage and said ‘Mammy, I can’t breathe’.”
“When I look back, Niamh was dying then. She was shutting down,” Ms O’Neill said. When the teenager’s condition deteriorated further she was returned to the resuscitation area, where her mother had to help a doctor pump an oxygen bag for Niamh until a nurse became available.
Ms O’Neill was then asked to leave the resuscitation area. A doctor came out to tell her later that her daughter had died from cardiac arrest.
In the letter to Ms O’Neill read out to the inquest, HSE Midwest said that it is with the “deepest regret and profound sadness that we write to you following the tragic loss of your daughter, Niamh”.
The health service said it wanted to acknowledge “the devastating consequences that this has had on both you and your extended family”.
“We understand that no words can adequately express the pain and grief you are experiencing, and we offer our sincerest condolences for your devastating loss. We are heartbroken that Niamh, a young life with so much potential, was taken from you too soon, and we know that she will be deeply missed by all who knew her,” the letter continued.
“The circumstances surrounding Niamh’s passing are a source of immense sorrow for us, and we sincerely regret the opportunities that were missed to intervene. We accept that these failings, which ultimately led to Niamh’s tragic death, should not have happened. On behalf of the management and staff of the University Hospital, we wish to apologise unreservedly for these failings.”
The health service authority said they “can never undo the devastation that you and your extended family have suffered”.
“However, we are committed to learning from this tragedy and to implementing any necessary changes to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
The inquest continues.