Australian girl dies from malnutrition, coeliac disease. mum arrested

[QuebecBagnet]

Link ere www.couriermail.com.au/breaking-news/mums-heartbreaking-social-media-post-before-6yo-charlies-death/news-story/d3c483c29c99d37f2b81ebfd57437dcc

So sad, I'm not denying the house maybe seemed a bit chaotic but the mum says she always fed her kids, there didn't seem to be particular concerns over the kids welfare before but now the other 5 kids are in care and mum is being investigated by the police.

Sounds like the coeliac disease wasn't diagnosed until post mortem.

It's just very close to home as dd nearly died due to malnutrition due to undiagnosed coeliac disease. She'd been very skinny and unwell for years. I'd taken her back and forth to the doctors. Eventually thanks to MN asked for a coeliac blood test which was positive but they tell you she has to keep eating gluten until getting an endoscopy which had a six month waiting list.

The week before she collapsed I rang not only my GP and the local hospital trying to get her seen urgently but every hospital in a 50 mile radius for a quicker appt (this was before covid). I remember telling my GP that I thought DD would be dead before the endoscopy and they said they couldn't help. We made a decision that day to stop the gluten regardless of official diagnosis - we knew it meant she'd never get an official diagnosis but felt her health was more important.

The next day we couldn't wake her up. The consultant in A&E was horrified when he saw her, said she must be seriously bulimic or anorexic. I was adamant she wasn't. He said she was seriously malnorished (abnormal bloods due to electrolytes, etc). Was straight on a drip and admitted. The doctor said she was about 24 hours away from death (if there hadn't been intervention).

So I can see how something like this can happen. If you had said to me the day before she collapsed do you think she's 24 hours away from dying I'd have laughed. I knew she was poorly, I knew she was underweight, I knew she was being sick every day and I knew she couldn't go on another six months but I was assured by all HCPs that she could wait and had to wait.

However, the single parenting courses she requested never eventuated and despite asking for help, her visits from wellbeing workers did not increase.

Hopefully there's a record of that too.

"The death is being investigated,” South Australia Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams said on Tuesday.
“The task force will conduct a simultaneous comprehensive and coronial investigation at the same time and that will focus on the broader circumstances of Charlie’s death.”

The neighbours think that DCP should have offered support (they'd reported the family). Attendance officers had been involved because Charlie hadn't been going to school. So how come this little girl fell through the cracks?

Until we know about the broader circumstances, it's difficult to work out who might be at fault, nor whether what that person or those people did amounts to a crime.

The father however played no part in it, as he's in prison (presumably for stabbing the mother)

I'm not sure your situation is comparable to the one in the article except for the fact that both girls have/had coeliac. It sounds like there was a lot going on in that other little girl's life - the coeliac may have contributed somewhat to her malnutrition but I'd be surprised if it was the only factor. It sounds as if multiple concerns had been raised about the welfare of all of the children, the rest of whom presumably aren't coeliac.

My adult SEN nephew was very much like this. By the time he got to hospital, he was literally less than 7 stone. Had to have sections of bowel removed and was in hospital for months trying to get his weight up. He definitely could have died from it.

My GP's attitude was very similar. My ds has intolerances and the GP said that unless there was anaphylaxis involved then it wasn't a big deal and he wouldn't make a referral for more investigation. He ended up in hospital and they were aghast when I repeated what the GP said about anaphylaxis being the only reason for more investigation but I guess that there's a GP shortage and I can't prove what he said so nothing would happen.

We got a private endoscopy and colonoscopy for my son when he was 5. There are definitely paediatric gastroenterologists and private hospitals that do this, just in case you need to get one done again.

Omg OP; your experience with your daughter is harrowingly. My jaw hit the floor. as soon as your daughter fell into faltering growth their should have been immediate investigations into food allergies, IBD et al. I’m so sorry you were let down so badly and it nearly cost your daughter her life. I hope you are all doing well now :)

I had to fight very hard for my son and had to get private testing done before the GP wpuld do anything. He said 'we do not treat gut problems in infants'. When I proved to him what was wrong, and he agreed to prescribe the correct treatment, my son grew before my eyes in the weeks following, when before that, he was not absorbing food. I have also been told 'some parents make believe their children's allergies', 'it could not have happened in the way you said', 'there is no pathway that can have caused that reaction' and 'the quantities of active ingredient in the medication cannot have caused that reaction'.. Thankfully I have managed to find doctors who have been able to help him, find treatments that don't further attack his body and accept that he does in fact fall within the small minority of people who do not fit within the norm. If I had followed the advise that my very poorly baby was in the boudsries of normal, it would have been a dofferent story.

"there didn't seem to be particular concerns over the kids welfare before"

I'm not sure how you formed that impression. The family was known to 4 different government agencies including the Department for Human Services, Department for Education and Department for Child Protection. Concerns were raised by multiple people to different authorities and they all failed her.

I can’t believe you’re in any way defending her after reading the article. Let the law do it’s job, but if the things in the article are true, the kids should be in care. And if the things in the article are true, there will be a lot more than what’s in the article. I wouldn’t be identifying with this case in your position, totally different circumstances.

Clearly there were a lot of things going on in this family's life and they needed more support. It's very sad. The coeliac issue really hits home for me because my son (16) has just been diagnosed. He's been getting thinner and thinner and is now below first centile. I honestly didn't realise how dangerously underweight he was until he was weighed at Camhs. The weight loss is slow and insidious and he's been thin for years (seen and discharged by health professionals).

So I can see how a parent would miss this. How could the mother possibly have known?

Am really hoping the diagnosis means he can finally start to gain weight and energy.

How is your DD now? I hope she's better.

Tor projecting @QuebecBagnet . The neighbours have more insight than you, they'd reported them to SS. They saw the neglect.

Have people blamed you for your DD being so poorly? Do you blame you? Is that what's making you defend this woman?.

Your situations are vastly different

My grandchildren have got coeliac disease, and were both diagnosed at around 18 months old from failure to thrive. Luckily DD's GP was trained in paeds and recognised the symptoms straightaway.

That poor child must have been in constant agony. Doesn't bear thinking about

And social services were visiting and monitoring and thought the kids were fine to be left. Maybe social services fucked up but it just seems so odd that two days before she died they were happy the kids were at home. Then she sadly dies from malnutrition and is now being accused of not feeding the child. My point is that it’s possible to die from malnutrition when you have coeliac disease even if eating plenty. If the child hadn’t died social services would probably be fine still with the kids being there. How many other kids are there where the house is cluttered and possibly dirty, the kids have nits and they’re still being left at home. Normally the bar for being put in care is higher than that.

If she had silent coeliac disease she wouldn’t have been in agony.

Your son should really improve now. Dd was 16yo when diagnosed and hadn’t grown in height for about 3years, we’d assumed she’d stopped growing and was just short. She grew 2” after diagnosis.

And yes, when you see them day in and day out the weight loss isn’t particularly startling. I remember my mum once being shocked at how thin Dd was and how much weight she’d lost and I hadn’t particularly noticed.

Dd still has some health issues but has gone on to develop other autoimmune diseases. So I think her ongoing stuff is down to that rather than coeliac disease. She’s much better than she was.

How many other kids are there where the house is cluttered and possibly dirty, the kids have nits and they’re still being left at home. Normally the bar for being put in care is higher than that.

Really weird that you’re pushing this. If what is true in the article, it’s very concerning and the kids should not be in their mothers care. Druggie father, kids witnessed mum being stabbed by dad, mum moaning that kids can’t speak to dad in prison after being stabbed by him, dirty, needs not met etc. Every child deserves better and I really don’t know why you’re drawing any sort of comparison to your situation presuming you are a responsible, loving parent. The coeliac issue and this poor child dying clearly brought attention to children that were being failed by parents and the system. It’s tragic that this child died but the other children may now get a chance of a better life.

I think Coeliac disease (if the child does have it) is only one thing that poor child was facing
I understand that your experience was awful OP but this is very different

@QuebecBagnet - I'm glad your DD had a growth spurt after going gluten-free, but sorry to hear she developed more autoimmune conditions. I hope they're under control.

@QuebecBagnet - and I hope you're right that we'll see improvements in DS's condition.

There is a middle ground between the children being in care and Local Authorities being 'happy' that the children are at home

In this country, there is a sliding scale of no intervention, child in need, child protection, pre proceedings, and seeking legal advice. And those events can fluctuate dependent on whether the parent shows signs of improving what they're doing, engaging fully with interventions or things getting worse or not changing. Sometimes Local Authorities make applications for removal but courts dont grant the order for separation so the children remain at home despite the fact that threshold for harm has been met.

Long term neglect is hugely damaging, its abuse. Children might not die from general neglect but if they have health issues which are either not treated or dont have oversight from health professionals on a consistent basis or if they have overlapping health needs like stress, depression,, allergies, poor sanitation etc it can hasten the illness of a person who is physically vulnerable.

I read that Charlie had an undiagnosed congenital heart condition, the heart condition is what killed her. Whatever happened (right, wrong or unpreventable) is going to take a long time to tease out.

Before castigating the mother, read this
medium.com/fourth-wave/charlies-mum-how-society-loves-to-hate-an-imperfect-mother-202cebe495c