Ryan & Emmie’s story

Quinn died in July 2021 from care so bad it has now been judged criminal.

Emmie was sent home three times from hospital in the week leading up to Quinn’s birth, having attended with bleeding. At home she lost 1.5 litres of blood and was rushed back to hospital; staff did not check the ambulance notes and dimissed Emmie’s request for a caesarean birth. We watched as his heart rate increased to 200 beats per minute. He was literally being starved of oxygen.

Quinn was eventually born by emergency caesarean after Emmie had another major bleed. He was rushed to neonatal intensive care but died less than two days later.

The psychological damage both of us sustained whilst helplessly watching Quinn on NICU is no longer recognised by the courts as being a secondary victim of medical negligence. The trauma Ryan lives with of watching Emmie bleeding is irrelevant, in the eyes of the Supreme Court.

The lack of recognition as secondary victims compounds our harm and prevents us trying to heal. Since Quinn’s death neither have been able to return to work full-time. 

Four-and-a-half years on, we’ve not even started to grieve properly.