One couple from Staffordshire who made a personal injury compensation claim on behalf of their son for medical negligence, has been awarded a sum understood to be in the five figures.
Four year old Owen Thomas, who had been a newborn infant when the incident had occurred, had nearly choked to death on a six inch long endrotracheal tube which hospital staff had neglected to remove shortly after his birth. Little Owen, who is hale and healthy today, had been fitted with the tube to aid in his respiration following complications during his birth as his mother delivered him at the Stafford Hospital, the young boy’s accident claims recounted.
Less than two weeks after Owen’s birth, the boy’s mother, Clare Thomas, saw cause for alarm when her newborn son appeared to be choking and turned blue. Immediately slapping him on the back, the mother was aghast to see the endrotracheal tube, a piece of PVC tubing six inches long, popped from his mouth.
Cannock native Mrs Thomas, along with Kevin, her husband, launched a medical negligence claim against the NHS foundation trust for the hospital, claiming that her son could have lost his life if she had not been present to intervene and save little Owen’s live.
The family has since been victorious in their pursuit of compensation from the NHS trust, and while the exact sum has not been disclosed to the media, it is understood that the total amount is to be in the five figures. One NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson did confirm that the claim had indeed been settled, and little Owen, who turns five this coming February, was lucky enough to not have any long-lasting debilitating ill-affects from his brush with death.