A family have been dealt a crushing blow after they were forced to bury their three-year-old son just days after he had been discharged from hospital. Jaiden Milligan, tragically died on July 17 only three days after he had been sent home after a simple five-minute assessment from a doctor.
Caylan Milligan and Charlotte Curan noticed their baby was unwell because he had developed a cough and was refused to eat his food. After taking him to the hospital, doctors inform Jaiden's mum and dad he probably had a sinus infection.
However, just three days later the young tot died after attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, with preliminary results showing he had multiple issues with his heart, Mirror Online reports.
Now, Caylan and Charlotte, both from Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, are visiting their son’s grave instead of preparing him for nursery. Now, they are both hoping to get answers surrounding their child’s death, according to Belfast Live.
They both said that, had their son been given more tests, he might’ve had more of a chance of surviving.
The couple said: “We noticed that he just wasn’t well on the Thursday so we took him to A&E in the Ulster Hospital, and they listened to his chest, took his temperature, looked in his ears and back of his throat. They said everything was clear and we were sent home and they said he had a sinus infection. We weren’t given anything for it, so we went out and bought our own stuff.
“We were told to bring him back if he got worse, so on the Saturday we called the out of hours and were advised to take him back to the Ulster. Within five minutes he was seen by triage. He was then taken straight to paediatrics and was seen to. The doctors were doing blood tests on him, scans, ECG and a chest X-RAY which showed fluid in the lungs and around his heart.
“They said there was something wrong, either an infection or his heart, and it came back that is was his heart so we were sent straight to the Royal by ambulance. At this stage, Jaiden knew something was wrong but he sat there like a champion and let the doctors do whatever they needed to do.
“The doctors took us into a side room and told us that Jaiden’s heart was in serious trouble. They wanted to do a procedure where they put two rods into the centre of his hips, one in the arterial line and the other was for fluids. The medication wasn’t working so they kept him in overnight on the Saturday.”
The pair went home to get Jaiden clean clothes and toys for him to play with. They arrived to Downpatrick at around 1am and were called back to the Royal at 6am, as Jaiden was becoming unsettled.
After speaking with a cardiologist, they said they were told that Jaiden’s body was under a lot pressure and they were asked if they’d be happy for him to be placed into an induced coma. Later, they were told the machine that Jaiden needed was in Dublin and they were waiting on a team from there to come and collect him.
However, at around 2:30pm, two nurses called the parents in as medics were doing CPR, fighting to keep the youngster alive. The couple called the doctors “fantastic” as they fought desperately for about half an hour to save him.
They let the parents hold Jaiden’s hand, but tragically their efforts were in vain and he died at 3:10pm on Sunday.
The heartbroken mum said: “The system is broken. Our child suffered for that long and we didn’t know. We want to know why our son was sent home within five minutes on the Thursday.
"We just want answers, and we know we have to wait for the full coroner’s finding to be sent to us, but we just want to know what happened to our son. The coroner kept his heart to run tests, so our son was buried without a heart. That is hard to take.”
The couple’s local community have rallied around them in the aftermath of the tragic death.
Jaiden’s sister Amelia’s school have vowed to be there to support the six-year-old and Caylan’s employee, Poundland, have paid for a floral tribute and offered him as much time off as he needs. Caylan and Charlotte said they will always remember their baby boy as a “happy, pleasant wee child” who loved to be playing in the dirt with his tractors.
“He was just such a good child,” they added. “It is never going to be the same without him. Our house will never be the same. He really was a mummy’s boy, and a typical wee boy who would happily sit playing on his own for hours.
In a statement from the South Eastern Trust, a spokesperson said: “The loss of a child at any time is heart-breaking and we acknowledge the pain and heartache Jaiden’s parents, Caylan and Charlotte are currently experiencing. We would like to express our deepest condolences at this sad time.
“The Trust is aware of Jaiden’s case and will be investigating it fully. We will be in contact with Jaiden’s parents as soon as the outcome of the investigation is complete.”
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