FATAL NEGLECT

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 November 1926, Page 6

FATAL NEGLECT

MAORI CHILD’S DEATH. AUCKLAND, November 25. An inquiry into the death of a native child named Wao Nuitana, was concludd at Raetihi by the District Coroner, Mr. W. H. Sandford. Kairamu Henare, father of the ' child, said it was healthy until a few weeks ago. After it had been ill a month, it was taken to Dr. Boyd. The doctor sent the child to Raetihi Hospital, as it was suffering from appendicitis. The doctor at the hospital examined the child and said that an operation would have to be performed. He did not leave the child at the hospital, but took it home to Orautoha. About nine days afterwards he removed the child to a neighbour’s house, and it died there three days later. The child had had no medicine from the time it became ill until it died, and the only time he saw a doctor was at Raetifii. He did not leave the child at the hospital as it was under the Ratana treatment. Ratana saw the child about a. month ago, but did not treat it. Dr. Boyd said he made a postmortem, and found that death was due to appendicitis, which had developed into peritonitis. Had an operation been'performed when he first saw the the child, its life would probably have been saved. It was evident from the whole history of the case that the boy had been sadly nglected. A nurse at the hospital said that when the father and mothex* took the child to the hospital they would not get out of the car. The mother would not let the child leave her. The doctox* examined the child, and he told the parents that if the child was taken home it would probably die, but that if it was operated on it would have a chance of recovering. The fathei' was willing, but the mothex* objected. They tried hard to persuade the mothex* to 'have the child attended to, but without avail. The Coroner returned a verdict that the cause of death was appendicitis, but added that the child had been shamefully neglected by its. parents during its illness, in that medical, attention had been denied.