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Paramedics Negligent, but Parents Hauled Up for Child’s Death

by Gopalan on Jun 21 2008 12:06 PM

A three-year-old dies following a fall. Paramedics fail to spot the injuries. But it is the parents who are held on suspicion of murder. It is a real life story.

Lewis Urmston-Brown died after he banged the back of his head on the ground after tumbling from railings in a play area.

His parents, Michelle and Chris of Cheshire in North West England, promptly called an ambulance after his fall. A pair of paramedics did respond, but they felt his injuries were superficial. No hospitalisation was required, they declared and drove away.

Eight hours later Michelle, 39, woke in the early hours of the morning at their home to find the boy Lewis unconscious and frothing at the mouth. This time the emergency ambulance crew rushed the toddler to Warrington General Hospital. But it was too late.

What happened thereafter was worse. The distraught parents were arrested on suspicion they might have failed to act in time to save the kid.

Fortunately, though, after inquiries they were cleared and released without charge when details of ambulance staff's initial examination and diagnosis emerged.

Lewis' father Chris Brown, 41, pledged to sue North West ambulance for negligence.

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Speaking from the family's three-storey home he broke down and said: "It's an absolute outrage.

"Lewis could still be alive but he has gone and our lives are shattered.

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"Not only did our son die but we there then accused of killing him, and all because the ambulance staff failed to do their job properly.

"If they had given him a decent examination, they would have realised he needed hospital treatment, and he would still be alive today.

"They did not examine him properly. It was a two-minute job and they were off. It was like it was all too much trouble and they could not wait to get away.

"But we were certain he was hurt. He had fallen on his head, for God's sake, and he's only a little boy.

"They could have done tests at the hospital and his internal injuries would have shown up and he could have got treatment to save his life.

"We have such terrible mixed emotions of sorrow and anger at the way first Lewis was left to die and then we were accused of killing our beautiful son. It is criminal what they did."

Security guard Chris added: "North West ambulance haven't heard the last of this and we'll be talking to solicitors about suing the ambulance service for gross negligence.

"It's not about the money but we can't just let them get away with this. They have to recognise that when people like us dial 999, we are not wasting their time."

Shattered Michelle told how she collapsed as detectives led her out of the house in handcuffs.

Choking back tears she said: "I'd only just learned I had lost my son, and the next minute I was being arrested on suspicion of killing him.

"I can't explain the horror of it. It was a living nightmare.

"I just went hysterical and screamed and my body went numb and I collapsed in a faint.

"To even think I could hurt my precious boy makes me feel physically sick."

Michelle revealed she herself had to be taken to hospital for treatment after she collapsed at the shock of being arrested.

North West Ambulance Service have launched a full investigation into the death, Daily Mail reports.

Cheshire Police confirmed that Lewis' parents were arrested on suspicion of murder but say any suspicion against them had been completely lifted.

Source-Medindia
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