‘Nothing will ever bring our son back’

The country’s main children’s hospital has apologised to the parents of a two-year-old boy who died in its care after a routine surgical procedure went wrong.

Pierce Nowlan, from Saggart, Co Dublin, suffered massive blood loss, a heart attack and brain damage at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, on his second birthday in Oct 2004 after an artery in his chest was accidentally punctured.

The boy, who was known by the hospital to have haemophilia, bled internally for some time before medical staff discovered there was a problem. Efforts to save him failed and he was declared brain dead three days later.