Family query doctors' diagnosis after son, 2, died

The family of a two-year-old boy who died after being told he had constipation at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital say there should have been further investigations to properly diagnose his condition.

Hudson Cole Perrins died from a brain injury linked to a urinary tract infection, on 27 June, four days after his father took him to the hospital with stomach pain.

His mother Kayleigh Taundry, who works at the hospital's trust, said doctors took the "obvious route" of diagnosing constipation when there was no evidence of it.

Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said it cannot comment until an inquest has been completed.

The inquest into Hudson's death is to be heard at the Black Country Coroner’s Court on Thursday and next Monday.

His preliminary cause of death was given as a brain injury caused by a urinary tract infection that impacts the kidneys and causes sepsis, law firm FBC Manby Bowdler, which is supporting the family at the hearing, said.

Hudson, from Willenhall, who died a month before his third birthday, had been born with a heart defect for which he underwent surgery, at seven months old, but he had a complicated medical history that also included bladder and kidney problems.

His father took him to New Cross Hospital on 23 June and doctors felt hardness in his tummy and concluded it was constipation, lawyers said.

Hudson was then given two suppositories and an enema and discharged, despite not having gone to the toilet.

Ms Taundry said she took him back to the hospital the following day when he began having seizures and was still in pain.

He was later transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where he died after his parents agreed to his life support machine being switched off.

"He was one month from turning three," Ms Taundry said.

"He was very cheeky and boisterous. We are all still in denial. I can’t put it into words - he was a beautiful boy.

"As a family, we just want lessons to be learned and we don’t want any other family to go through everything that we’ve been through, because it’s just devastating."

Clinical negligence expert Michael Portman-Hann, from FBC Manby Bowdler, said: “This is a tragic case that has left the family with so many questions and concerns.

"We will support them in any way we can to make sure no other family goes through this trauma.”

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