Mum claims hospital dismissed son's symptoms and said he was exaggerating to get out of school

A mum claims doctors said her son was faking an illness to skip school.

Jessica Bye, from Australia, rushed her son Maysen Bowen to hospital after he began suffering intense body aches and was unable to eat.

However, despite undergoing a series of tests, doctors were unable to find out what was wrong with him.

As a result, they questioned whether the 12-year-old was actually faking the symptoms to get out of going to school, the mum claimed.

"He couldn't really move, he could barely stand," Bye said.

"One time I had to help him to go to the toilet and I had to physically lift his legs off the bed."

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However, it later transpired that they were wrong and Maysen actually had a rare autoimmune disease.

The young boy was discharged from hospital later that day, but had to be taken straight back after his condition worsened.

"We didn't get very far down the road and Maysen said something to me and I noticed his voice was really slurred," Bye said.

"I looked over at him and the whole left side of his face was floppy."

After returning to the emergency room, Maysen was eventually diagnosed with a condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. He is now being treated at the Royal Children's Hospital.

Speaking about the ordeal, his mum said it had changed his life.

"He's a 12-year-old child who's now bedridden," Bye said. "It's hard to know how bad he would have been if we were assessed faster and diagnosed quicker."

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In a statement, a spokesperson for Western Health said that it was investigating the circumstances surrounding Maysen's treatment.

"We acknowledge that this is a difficult time for the patient and his family," the spokesperson said.

"We are in contact with the family and are committed to thoroughly reviewing this incident to identify any opportunities to improve our care."

Last month, Mandy Moore revealed that her young son has a rare condition called Gianotti-Crosti syndrome.

Moore, the star of This Is Us, shared a number of photos showing her son with rashes down his legs and praised the two-year-old’s brave attitude to the illness, which could last for a few weeks.

Gianotti-Crosti syndrome - GCS - is a rare condition that comes on suddenly, sometimes accompanied by a cold, and is characterised by lesions on the skin, and a blistery rash that can appear on the arms, legs, and buttocks.

Topics: Health, Australia

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is the News/Agenda Desk Lead, covering the latest trends and breaking stories. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

@SmithersDom