On the morning of 30 November 2022, Keri-Sue McManus sat down with her three-year-old son, Micah, to watch the TV series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. A preschool animation about a tiger cub, the show sets out to teach life lessons. That day, Keri-Sue chose a specific episode, Daniel Goes to the Hospital, for a reason. She planned to take Micah to hospital and was using the cartoon to reassure him that everything would be OK.
She was sensitive to his mood because it wasn’t the first time Micah had visited the emergency room in recent weeks. In fact, it was the third time Keri-Sue had taken her toddler to hospital, and the sixth time that month she had contacted various doctors about his deterioration: he had a lack of appetite, weakness, fatigue and severe dizziness, and these symptoms were getting worse.
