Six-Year-Old Dies Of Meningitis Hours After 'Medics Told Mum He Was Trying To Milk It'

A six-year-old boy died of meningitis just hours after medics told his mum he was trying to "milk it" following an examination at their local GP surgery, an inquest has heard.

Schoolboy Oliver Hall passed away at the James Paget University Hospital in Norfolk on 24th October 2017 shortly after a paramedic "rolled his eyes" and commented that he spent much of his time dealing with "over-anxious mothers".

Oliver's mother Georgie, 38, told the inquest at Suffolk Coroner's court in Ipswich how she warned medics her son could have meningitis - but the medical professionals ignored her worries about the rash that had appeared on his body.

The schoolteacher, who is seven months pregnant, said she was slow to react as her son's condition worsened after returning home because she had been wrongly reassured by what she had been told.

But she eventually became so worried that she took him back to the Cutlers Hill surgery in Halesworth where a doctor finally began to suspect that he had meningitis and gave him an injection of penicillin.

She said: "I said I was worried about meningitis and they assured me he was well enough to return home.

"They rejected meningitis out of hand. I was told everything was fine. I was made to feel I had to trust the medical professionals."

The inquest heard how a paramedic asked Georgia if she had been going on the internet to check her son's symptoms and mimicked the "grunting" noise Oliver was making.

He also suggested that Oliver was going to "milk it" after the lad tripped over a step after visiting the GP surgery with them.

Father Bryan added: "We both suspected meningitis and Georgie was raising this as a potential diagnosis.

"We were made to feel we were over-sensitive parents who did not know what we were talking about."

Nigel Klein, a professor of infectious disease at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, said that he believed Oliver could have survived if he had been treated sooner.

He said that even if he had been treated as late as 3pm on 23rd October, he would still have lived, although he might have been left with scarring or loss of fingers or toes.

But he said that Oliver's death would have been "inevitable" if he had not been treated by around 3.30pm, nearly three hours before he was seen for the second time at the GP's surgery.

Featured Image Credit: East Anglia News Service/ SWNS

Topics: Life News, Real, Health

Lisa McLoughlin

Lisa is a freelance journalist working for Tyla and the team's token Dubliner. After graduating with a MA in PR and Digital Marketing from D.I.T., she worked for MailOnline, Sun Online, Irish Independent and broadcaster RTÉ. Got a story of interest or want advice on how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness? Then email her at [email protected].

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