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Little girl Sophie had broke her tooth with boiled sweet and was immediately admitted to hospital to have ONE tooth
removed. But the doctors removed ALL her eight milk teeth in one go so that she does not need to come back to the hospital again. But when the little girl gain consciousness she was terrified and traumatised to see all her teeth gone.
Janet, the mother of Sophie, said: “I signed consent to have one tooth removed, not eight, so when she woke to find her teeth had come out and all the blood coming out of her mouth she was devastated. It must have been so scary.”
She would not open up her mouth and the they had to feed her through a tube. Sophie was sent back to her house one week after the operation. But since then, she has been losing so much weight that the worried parents decided to re-admit her. But the doctors said that it was not necessary and the parents abide.
The little girl's phobia of doctors started at the age of four when she went for a routine check-up at the doctor's and her tongue was cut accidentally. The coroner slammed health officers to failing to see the extent of Sophie's phobia.
Dad Richard said: “I was phoning every day. I think they thought we were over-reacting.
I decided to take her to hospital — we were on the way out when they told us not to come.” Sophie's parents tried their best to feed her the vital vitamins, yogurt, fruit, fortifying drinks but to no avail. Janet said: “She lost weight so quickly, it was absolutely awful to watch. I could see her spine through her skin, her cheekbones were exposed and when I went to brush her hair, clumps would come out in my hands. The little girl became very weak gradually, she was barely able to walk, her mother had to carry her everywhere.
Two weeks after the operation, the little girl died - the heartbreaking moment. Janet found her angel dead on her bed.
She said: “Sophie was really quiet, so I just thought she’d had a lovely night’s sleep. But I knew the minute I walked into her room that something was wrong. When I touched her face her skin felt freezing. I knew she was gone.”
Janet added: “I thought the doctors would look after Sophie properly, but not one person came to our home to see her.
We tried everything to get Sophie to eat, I even tried force-feeding her, but she was literally scared to death.
I should have listened to my heart and gone with my instincts. But I didn’t. I followed the advice of the doctors and because of that I’ll always feel that I was to blame for Sophie’s death too.
I can never forgive them — but neither can I forgive myself."
The death of little Sophie was a real shock for the whole family and the father also suffered from a nervous breakdown. He felt that he failed in his duty to protect his family.
“No mother should ever have to bury her child but what made it more heartbreaking was that Sophie’s death could have been prevented." - Janet
Published: February 22, 2009