Doctors should 'please listen to what parents have to say' 

'Our lives were shattered' says mum whose boy was left blind and unable to walk after 'appalling' treatment at CUH

Conor McCormack, Frankfield, Douglas, Cork, settled his action for €25m. He is pictured here in 2014 before he went in to hospital with problems with his brain shunt.

“Our lives were shattered,” said Sandra McCormack, whose son was left blind and unable to walk as a teenager after he went to Cork University Hospital (CUH) with brain shunt problems.

As Conor McCormack, 23, settled a legal action for €25m over his treatment at the hospital, his mother told the High Court how their cries for help went unanswered when her son collapsed at home and was rushed to CUH seven years ago.

“Our lives were shattered after the events of 2014. Conor was in so much pain and it was so devastating to watch him lose his sight, hearing, and mobility. We were all so distraught that our cries for help went unanswered,” she said.

Treatment was 'appalling'

She told Mr Justice Paul Coffey the €25m settlement against the HSE was “bittersweet” but it would allow the family to give Conor the life he deserved.

The court was told Conor’s treatment at CUH was “nothing short of appalling”.

Nothing was done in the hospital for three weeks and, as a result, Conor suffered a devastating brain injury that left him blind.

The court heard Conor had a shunt inserted in his brain when he was one. His parents had been told warning signs and symptoms to watch out for in relation to shunt blockage. Ms McCormack was “dancing up and down” looking for help.

Outside court, in a statement read by solicitor Ernest Cantillon, Sandra and Kevin McCormack said their son had deteriorated before their eyes. They pleaded with doctors to listen to the parents of sick children. They said: 

If we have one message to give to doctors it is to please listen to what the parents have to say about their child. They have important information to give and should be listened to.

They told the doctors that they believed there was a shunt malfunction.

“We pressed for consideration to be given to the revision of the stunt, which we were certain was blocked, but nothing happened other than that Conor deteriorated before our eyes.

Conor is 'completely and utterly debilitated'

“Prior to Conor’s admission, we had a child who had eyesight and was able to walk. It took a further three weeks before action was taken to revise the shunt and we ended up with a child with challenges, and completely and utterly debilitated both physically and mentally. He was unable to walk and was blind.”

They took Conor home and said they nursed him as best they could.

After the pressure on Conor’s brain was reduced, he got the sight back in one eye, they said, but was totally blind in the other eye.