A grieving father has heartbreakingly revealed how he spent the day in bed crying after bungling officials failed to tell him that an inquest into his son’s death was taking place.
Lee Rawlinson, 51, was not informed about a hearing into the death of his 12-year-old son Joel at Manchester Coroner’s Court due to an ‘administrative error’.
Mr Rawlinson – who split from Joel’s mother in 2018 – only learned that a coroner concluded that crucial delays in treating his critically-ill son contributed to his death after reading about it in the news on his way to work.
Joel was on his PlayStation at home in Middleton, Greater Manchester, when he collapsed on December 29, 2019. He had undergone successful major surgery weeks after his birth to repair a damaged aorta, the major artery coming from the heart.
But the youngster, who recovered well and loved playing football for Middleton Lads, fell severely ill at home because of an aneurysm and later died in hospital of cardiac respiratory failure.
An internal NHS review of his death found medics should have discussed transferring him to a specialist children’s hospital by 1am of December 30, the day after the collapse. This didn’t happened until around 9am when it was too late, the inquest at Manchester Coroners’ Court was told last month.
Lee Rawlinson was left distraught after officials failed to tell him about a hearing into his 12-year-old son Joel’s death. Pictured: The father and son together
Mr Rawlinson only learned that a coroner concluded that crucial delays in treating his critically-ill son Joel (pictured together), who was born with heart problems, contributed to his death after reading about it in the news
Officials have now apologised to Mr Rawlinson, 해외에이전시 a train manager, and said work was underway by the court to ensure no other parent, particularly those who have separated, suffer the same experience.
Mr Rawlinson told the Manchester Evening News: ‘I had a phone call from a coroners’ officer who apologised and said ‘we hold our hands up, it’s our error’. He said I had a right to make a formal complaint and he would understand if I wanted to do that.’