Portsmouth family left feeling lost following legal battle after death of nine-year-old son

Victor Wyatt from Paulsgrove died two years ago after complaining about stomach pains which turned out to be a twisted intestine.

Parents Alan and Nicki decided to take the youngster to the children’s unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham on September, 22, 2017, after a referral from the GP over vomiting but he was discharged a few hours later.

The next morning Victor suffered a cardiac arrest in his bedroom while his siblings, Blake, who was seven, and Millie, who was two, and Mum Nicki looked on in horror as Alan gave Victor CPR.

Alan, 47, said: ‘We have lost our son and we are furious. The doctors did not take us seriously enough. I am deaf but I felt like the doctors were not listening to me when I was trying to tell them about our family’s history with Crohn’s disease.’

Paramedics took Victor back to QA after his cardiac arrest before he was moved to Southampton General Hospital a couple of hours later.

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Alan added: ‘They asked me why there had not been more tests and an X-ray. They immediately found the problem with his intestine and took him for surgery.’

Victor died five days later on September 27 after suffering severe brain damage during surgery.

Through tears Nicki said: ‘I have lost my eldest son. My children watched him as he had an arrest and now they can’t go in that room, none of us can.

‘This house is a constant reminder of what has happened and we just want to move.’

Victor had previously been seen three times in 2014 and 2016 by the Paediatric Outpatients department at QA about bowel problems.

The family, who said there was no inquest, started legal proceedings but said due to issues with an expert for the case, that the lawyers decided they would not win and the case was stopped.

More recently the couple’s other son Blake, now nine, suffered from similar gut pains and they took him straight to Southampton General Hospital where he had appendix surgery that was successful.

After the stress of the last two years, Alan, who used to work at Co-op, suffered a ministroke and was also diagnosed with functional neurological disorder.

He added: ‘This has been horrible for my family.

‘Even though we could not live closer to QA I would never trust them again with looking after us.’

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A serious investigation report was undertaken by the hospital.

Liz Rix, chief nurse at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust said: ‘The loss of a child is a tragedy and our heartfelt condolences go to the family of Victor Wyatt and all those affected at this incredibly sad time.

‘The care and safety of our patients is our absolute priority. We carried out an investigation into Victor’s care and treatment to identify and act on any areas for learning.’