By Adam Dutton
A baby was left fighting for her life with a collapsed lung after being sent home FIFTEEN times by doctors who dismissed the symptoms as a chest infection.
Ellie Stimson, 21 says her daughter Isla-Rae Burton now needs a vital operation for a rare lung condition after doctors ignored her pleas for help for several months.
The first-time mom ‘knew something wasn’t right’ when Isla-Rae was born in February as she was constantly wheezing, struggling with breathing and coughing up mucus.
But Ellie and partner Keiron Burton, 23, were left surprised when doctors told her she “would probably grow out of it” as she seemed a “happy baby.”
The couple ended up taking their daughter to a GP seven times and Royal Stoke University Hospital eight times – but were told it was a chest infection and repeatedly discharged.
On one occasion she rushed back into A&E by ambulance but Ellie said “still no one listened” to her concerns until further tests were eventually carried out in October.
Isla Rae, then nine-month-old, was found to have Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformation (CPAM) – an extremely rare condition which sees cysts in the lung growing in the womb.
It was also discovered Isla Rae had a collapsed lung and she ended up spending six hours on life support.
Only 1 in 10,000 babies are born with a CPAM, according to the Asthma + Lung UK charity.
Ellie, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs., has now blasted bungling medics for missing tell-tale signs of her daughter’s condition.
She said: “They said it could have been life-threatening and we know from research it’s not survivable if left.
“I think it’s so disgusting the fact that she’s just a baby and that it can be picked up but it wasn’t.
“They’ve failed her, and the thought that we could have lost her breaks my heart.
“It’s not the kind of mistakes they should be making.
“We’re very upset and angry that it wasn’t picked up at the start.
“We go to the hospital with our children to trust them to tell us what’s wrong with them.
“We knew it was something else, a baby shouldn’t be having a chest infection constantly for 11 months.
“Normally the surgery is done immediately so they’re not left struggling to breathe like this.
“I just don’t understand why we were repeatedly told not to worry when we knew something was wrong.
“The shadowing on her lung wasn’t an infection at all – it was because she had a collapsed lung.
“We weren’t told this right away. And the first shadowing was detected back in May. She may have had a collapsed lung for months.
“She was receiving treatment for conditions she never had. They’d just keep telling us she’s a happy baby and it was fine.
“It was really frustrating and upsetting to be ignored. It was horrible and now she needs a major operation.”
Isla-Rae had been struggling with her breathing and was coughing up mucus from just two-weeks-old.
Her concerned parents first took her to the GP but were reassured by doctors it was a simple chest infection.
In May, she was taken for an X-ray after her symptoms didn’t improve – but doctors there also dismissed the shadowing.
Just weeks later she was rushed back into A&E in an ambulance, where again it was still believed to be a chest infection.
Ellie said she pushed for more testing after repeatedly getting the same prognosis and sent home with antibiotics, saline spray and calpol.
Ellie said: “We realised something was off straight away, we took her to the doctors at two weeks old as she was really wheezy.
“The doctors said it was normal as babies have a lot of mucus. We left it for a bit but it was still bad so we went to the doctors again.
“They gave us a saline solution for her nose.
“Again her breathing was really bad and I took her to the GP in May when she was two months old. She got blue lighted as her stats were down.
“She had her first chest X-ray then and they told us they thought it was a chest infection or it was laryngomalacia.
“But we were told it was fine and the X-ray was clear, so we went home.
“But in June she wouldn’t feed or drink so we took her in yet again.
“Then she had another X-ray where they found a shadowing on her lungs. Again, they told me it indicated a chest infection.
“She had a camera down her throat in October.
“They called us after and asked if we knew she had a collapsed lung and we were just in shock.
“It was on the scans the whole time.
“They were meant to be detected at 21 weeks but they were completely missed.”
The tot was diagnosed with cysts bigger than 2cm in her lungs and one of her lungs was also collapsed.
The couple claim they had 15 GP and hospital visits in the eight months since Isla-Rae was born but were dismissed at every opportunity.
Isla is now waiting for an operation date at Birmingham Children’s Hospital while both Ellie and Keiron care for her full time.
The couple are now fundraising to pay for the mounting costs of care after they both had to give up work.
Former care assistant Ellie added: “I’ve had to contact Birmingham Children’s Hospital myself to get the surgery.
“We were told we would get a response back really quick, but from November until last week I didn’t hear anything, so I called them last week.
“I was due to go back to work but I can’t at the moment due to Isla’s condition, we can’t afford hotels, the food and all the other costs.
“Keiron lost his job as a grounds maintenance worker recently, too, so we need the help.”
Ann-Marie Riley, chief nurse at Royal Stoke University Hospital, said: “We take all concerns raised very seriously and have a robust process in place to investigate concerns and feedback findings to patients and/or their families.
“We are now in communication with Isla-Rae’s family and will work with them regarding their complaint.”
