Father to start foundation to honour ten-year-old daughter who died following several surgeries

Communion photo of Dolceanna with her siblings and her parents Michael and Bridget and siblings just two weeks before Dolceana went into Temple Street for her surgery. Picture: Michael Carter

The father of a child who died after undergoing several operations for spina bifida and scoliosis said he wants to develop a foundation in his daughter’s memory.

Dollceanna Carter, 10, from Trim, Co Meath, passed away on September 29, 2022, after suffering complications following surgery at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin.

The child’s case is one of 19 being examined as part of external review into operations at Temple Street.

The HSE has described her death as a "serious surgical incident" which is the subject of a Serious Incident Investigation Review. The review has been in progress since last month.

The child’s death has made national headlines after her father Michael said he wanted people to see his daughter’s face and to know “she was not a number, she was our daughter, our queen”.

“We also don’t want our daughter to be forgotten,” Mr Carter told the Irish Examiner. 

This is a devastated family. We just want Dollceanna to be remembered, and for people to know who she was. There is nothing in this for us, only the truth.

Dollceanna had spent four months in Temple Street in the summer of 2022 until she died in hospital.

Her heartbroken parents Michael and Bridget Carter said they want answers and a thorough investigation into their daughter’s death.

“We were told she died from sepsis after contracting the MRSA bug after all the operations she had over four months, from May to September,” said Mr Carter.

“We handed our child into the arms of the hospital. We trusted them.

“We already have lost our oldest child, Santana, at 11 months. She had spina bifida, we understand why she died. We don’t understand why Dollceanna died.

“But people have been very supportive, and we would like to set up a foundation in her honour as a memorial and support to other people. We did not know a lot of things about scoliosis. We want to use our experience to help other families too."

Dollceanna could not walk and was in a wheelchair but loved nothing more than playing outside with her friends, her father said.

“She was just a normal child, and she loved life, she was a very compassionate girl."

Mr Carter said they were asked to consider surgery for scoliosis and spina bifida while on a clinical visit to Temple Street Hospital.

We didn’t want surgery, we were encouraged to do it. They are the experts. We never saw ourselves in this situation.

“When this all came out, I heard the HSE talking about a child that died on the news. I was in the car with Bridget, and I said now I am going to let people know about our daughter. I am not going to have her spoken about like she was a number”.

Mr Carter continued: “It’s about the truth now and showing our four living children how to speak up and get answers.

“Their sister should be out playing on the street now, and we are all trying to deal with this.

“We want the truth about what happened to her, and we want justice for our girl. But we also feel we could help other families who have children born with spina bifida and to help and support them too.”