THE PARENTS OF Aoife Johnston, who died after a 12-hour wait in a hospital emergency department, say she had “a horrible death”.
A verdict of medical misadventure was today returned at the inquest into the death of the teenager at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in 2022.
The 16-year-old died of bacterial meningitis on 19 December 2022 in the overcrowded emergency department.
Aoife had initially presented to the hospital on 17 December, and was eventually admitted to intensive care, but passed away shortly after.
Aoife’s father James said they “went to the hospital to get help” and they didn’t receive it.
Her mother Carol said: “We arrived on the 17th [of December] and we never thought we’d be leaving on the 19th without Aoife.
“We told her, ‘Get some rest, the doctors will be here soon’, and the doctors never came.
She suffered the whole night and I think people need to know that.
The inquest which took place this past week has been another period in which Aoife’s family has experienced great distress, and this has been publicly visible to all.
The coroner’s verdict of medical misadventure was unopposed by the HSE and UL Hospitals Group.
In a statement this afternoon, HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said he wanted to “restate for the record our unequivocal apology, conscious that no words” will take away the pain of Aoife’s family and friends.
Carol said they welcome the verdict and the apologies, “but it’s not going to change anything”.
Aoife’s gone and that’s what we have to live with now.
The couple joined calls for emergency departments in Ennis and Dingle to reopen, saying it’s “clear as day” they’re needed.
James said he hopes that promises from the HSE and the government with regards to improvements at the hospital are “not all talk”.
“They need to get on with it … more people are going to die in that hospital.”
A retired manager at UHL told the inquest this week that the hospital was akin to a “war-zone” and “unsafe” for patients on the night Aoife died.
An assistant director of nursing at the hospital described the conditions as “dangerous”.
Carol said it was “terrifying” to hear Dr Jim Gray, the most senior consultant there, describe the emergency department at UHL – then and now – as a “deathtrap”.
She said she hopes in time Aoife will not just be remembered as “the 16-year-old who died on the trolley”, but as someone who was much-loved by her family.
Carol described her daughter as a “happy-go-lucky” girl who was a “good kid”.
James said Aoife was his best friend.
Aoife’s older sister Megan also spoke outside Kilmallock Courthouse in Co Limerick today.
She said she never got to say goodbye to Aoife as her condition worsened so quickly.
She described Aoife as “a beautiful girl inside and out”.
“I never got to see my sister complete her Leaving Cert. I never got to see my sister do her graduation. I never got to see my sister moving on to the next chapter with her boyfriend,” said Megan.
“I’m so sorry Aoife for what happened to you.”
With reporting by David Raleigh
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