Mum of Bettystown girl with Spinabifida says she has "lost faith" in health system

The angry mother of a young girl with Spinabifida who had to undergo emergency surgery to correct a failed procedure says she "terrified" that her daughter could be one of the cases linked to the Temple Street scandal.

Eight year old Abbie Rose O’Hehir from Bettystown underwent hip, knee and foot surgery in June 2022 after years of mum Denise fighting to get her little girl medical treatment, however days later she developed an infection, and was rushed to Temple Street for emergency surgery.

It comes as the HSE has confirmed 19 children at CHI at Temple Street Nineteen children suffered significant complications after spinal surgery and, in a number of cases, unauthorised devices were used in the operations in Temple St Hospital.

The revelations follow an internal examination and come in the wake of serious concerns about the high incidence of complications which were arising in children who had the surgery.

After the news broke the HSE told Denise that her daughter’s care did not fall within the scope of the review, however, the worried mum has welcomed Stephen Donnelly announcement that the review into surgeries will be extended.

"There are protocols in place with the CHI and HSE so something like this doesn’t happen,” she said. "It is hard enough for parent having to sign a consent form for surgery without them not doing our part make sure our kids are being kept safe," she added,

"Over the past few days I have found myself saying is this actually real, but it is, it is a nightmare and a nightmare that is not going to go away, I think there is going to be an awful lot more to come out of the wood work.”

Abbie Rose who was born in 2015 with spina bifida and hydrocephalus had been on a waiting list for hip, knee and foot correction surgery for over three years.

The little girl in just one year underwent nine major surgeries to have a shunt inserted to drain fluid from the brain along with a procedure to close her spine at just one-day old. Denise says she was thrilled when a date came up for the long awaited surgery but within days of having the operation, a serious situation emerged.

"We were fighting for years get surgery,” said Denise. " We went up on Monday June 13th last year and she underwent hip, knee and foot surgery. Steel plates and screws were inserted into her, her femur bone was cut and the surgeon had the steel work attached to it.

" Everything looked fine in the scans then on the Saturday I just felt something wasnt right so we brought her back to Temple Street.

"She got an X-ray and it came up that all of the work that had been done had come apart, she needed emergency surgery and she had a massive haematoma.

"Now I’m thinking why did it really fail in the first place and all I’m concerned about now is what is in her foot licensed?”

It is impossible to determine if the breakage was because of poor bone density or a direct consequence of the surgery as Denies explains.

“The surgeon explained they don’t like putting too much steel work in with kids that have spinabifida because the more you put in the more likely it is that they will need surgery down the line to take it back out because their bones are not as strong as ours. So he ended up putting more screws in."

The mum of two says she has lost all faith in the health system.

"I just an inkling that there was something wrong with Abbierose’s work and I brought her up but I didn’t expect what happened to happen,” said Denise.

"The time frame of Abbierose’s surgery was around the exact same time as this review but when I rang the HSE helpline on Tuesday that they were just dealing with spinal surgeries and not dealing with anything other than that.

But Stephen Donnelly has come out and agreed that there will be a wider review which I’m thankful for but how long will that take?

“It is just terrifying thinking stuff like this is actually happening in a hospital where your child goes for treatment and there is no other hospital you can go to. The trust is gone, how I will ever be able to let her go for another surgery? I’m petrified wondering what the future is going to hold.”

The Bettystown woman is calling for the review to include all orthopedic surgery carried out in Temple Street in recent years.

"How could his be allowed to happen in a hospital of excellence? To even let it happen once but there are 19 families who are in devastation at the moment, it is cruel, my heart goes out to them. We need answers.

"I’m waiting for a letter from Temple Street to point me in the direction for her care.I asked previously about Abbie Rose going across the border for treatment and they refused to sign it before so I’m hoping now with all of this it might give us a bit of leeway to give parents the option now to somewhere else. "