Faye Errington claimed doctors repeatedly ‘misdiagnosed’ her daughter Orla’s serious medical conditions – the mum is now fighting for a wheelchair to improve her daughter’s life
A 10-year-old girl was told she was “fine” by medics but is now losing the ability to walk and has had her application for a special wheelchair rejected by the NHS.
Faye Errington said her young daughter Orla was repeatedly “misdiagnosed” by doctors. The girl was born with three holes in her heart, two of which have since closed, one kidney, and just one fully joined hip socket. Orla spent five days out of the hospital after she was born, but was rushed back. The baby was taken to doctors for a heart murmur and has suffered from difficult health complications since.
At three months old, Orla briefly stopped breathing and dealt with choking episodes, which her mum described as “acute life-threatening events”. Young Orla still suffers from these today and she is dependent on having respiratory physiotherapy, careful monitoring at night and suction to avoid her airways from getting blocked.
Orla also suffered from a severe anxiety disorder and a rare genetic condition called Kabuki Syndrome, which impacts multiple parts of her body.
The young girl suffers in agony daily if she tries to walk, her mum revealed. Orla’s genetic condition has led to her having ‘severely dislocated’ kneecaps, a twisted right thigh bone and other abnormalities.
These means the young girl often falls and can only walk short distances, while relying on a self-propelled wheelchair which she struggles to use, according to the MailOnline.
Faye has desperately pleaded for a powered wheelchair for her daughter, after her application for one was rejected by the NHS. The mum started a GoFundMe page to help raise the money to get one for her daughter.
Faye said: “Orla can’t move, she’s totally bed ridden. We’re desperate for help, desperate for her wheelchair.” The mum has claimed her daughter’s anguish could have been prevented if medics listened to her earlier.
Faye said: “Her hip dysplasia as a baby wasn’t picked up on by the hospital. For months I told them something was wrong with her legs, but they all said Orla was fine.
“I remember once having seven doctors around her bed. I was crying as I told them that I knew something was wrong with her legs because I have other children, but they assured me she was fine.” An X-ray after this revealed Orla did not have a hip socket on one side, before she had two “traumatising” surgeries.
Faye said she flagged that Orla could be suffering with a condition after she noticed her daughter struggled to walk up the stairs, but the mum claimed doctors told her the girl could have had hypermobility – the mum said “this didn’t seem right”.
The mum added she went back to the hospital when Orla started to scream while having her clothes changed. Faye recalled: “I took her in for an X-ray on her right knee and was told she was absolutely fine. I remember being shocked at that.”
Faye said a medic eventually told her that Orla needed leg braces and said she was “suddenly taken so seriously”. She was then sent home but doctors finally confirmed Orla had dislocated kneecaps, following another fall.
Faye said: “I haven’t been the same person from that moment, I had to take a deep breath and calmly say if an X-ray showed that Orla has a dislocated knee before, how were we sent home that day saying she was okay? The nurse apologised and simply said it had been marked down as a coincidental finding.”
Faye said years of surgeries and medical visits have left Orla with extreme trauma a huge impact on her mental health. The mum added that the 10-year-old’s development has been impacted and she has been out of school for over a year.