The death of a one-year-old boy from Nottingham who likely choked on a piece of food has been ruled as accidental. Abdul-Rahman Bashiri was just 15 months old when he was taken by his family to Queen’s Medical Centre after he "likely" choked on a piece of food.
Abdul-Rahman, who was described as a “happy” child, was taken to hospital on November 20, 2022. He died just over a month later, on December 27 after a period of time in the intensive care unit following a cardiac arrest, which caused severe brain damage.
On Friday, June 23, an inquest at Nottingham Council House heard verbal evidence including that from Detective Sergeant Nicole Milner of Nottinghamshire Police, Dr Charlotte Goedvolk, a consultant paediatrician at Queen’s Medical Centre, Abdul-Rahman’s GP Dr Edward Charles Pooley and pathologist Dr Mohammed Haini.
An opening to the inquest into Abdul's death had previously taken place o Wednesday, March 22. In a witness statement taken by Nottinghamshire police, Abdul-Rahman’s mother, Mrs Bashiri, said November 20 had started like a normal morning, the family were upstairs and Mrs Bashiri gave the youngster some baby food consisting of mashed up celeriac and cut-up apple.
She then went downstairs to prepare breakfast for the other children. She said she was then called by Abdul-Rahman’s older brother Mohammed, 11, to come upstairs and he and her husband informed Mrs Bashiri that the 15-month-old was choking, but nobody could find food in Abdul-Rahman’s mouth.
The family drove Abdul-Rahman to the hospital and he arrived at the hospital at around 9.50am on Sunday. He was in cardiac arrest and resuscitation commenced immediately and 21 minutes later, a sustained heart rhythm returned.
Treatment on Abdul-Rahman had started on the floor until he could be moved to a trolley, as there were none available, but Dr Goedvolk described this as an “unusual situation” and added, “I do not think it [him being on the floor at the start of his treatment] had any impact on the quality of care.”
An MRI scan performed on November 23 showed that Abdul-Rahman had suffered a hypoxic brain injury - a brain injury that forms due to a restriction of oxygen to the brain. Speaking on Abdul-Rahman, who had Down Syndrome, prior to his admission, Dr Goedvolk added: “He was doing really well and he was developing really well
“His social needs and family needs were met by the people around him. He was a child that would face challenges but not of the scale we were describing after the cardiac arrest.”
Ultimately the decision was taken to remove Abdul-Rahman’s breathing tube. He was later taken off intensive care to a different ward where he developed a chest infection which he could not manage on his own, that led to his death.
Discussing whether anything other than choking could have caused the cardiac arrest, she added: “Children do not usually have a cardiac arrest due to a heart problem”, instead that they usually have them due to a breathing problem.
She added that if it was caused by an infection, it would have presented itself in a different way. Speaking to the family, who was not present in court, Dr Goedvolk added: “I am really sorry that we were not able to save him.”
Detective Seargent Milner said Nottinghamshire police had no concerns about any suspicious circumstances in Abdul-Rahman’s death. His GP, Dr Edward Charles Pooley described him as a “happy well-developing infant.”
Dr Mohammed Haini, pathologist, ruled Abdul-Rahman’s cause of death as 1A hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and 1B food bolus obstruction. Summarising the inquest, assistant coroner Dr Elizabeth Didcock said that on balance, although we cannot be sure, “it is likely he had a choking incident that morning.
“I do not think there is anything more that could be done to save his life.” Abdul-Rahman’s cause death was ruled as accidental with the causes as 1A hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, 1B a prolonged cardiac arrest leading to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, and an underlying cause of a choking episode.
