Little Tom Hord was deprived of oxygen for 20 minutes before he was born by emergency Caesarean
A BOY left severely brain damaged at birth was let down by the hospital’s catalogue of failings and the medics who delivered him, according to his heartbroken dad.
Little Tom Hord was deprived of oxygen for 20 minutes before he was born by emergency Caesarean in 2009.
It left Tom – now seven – with cerebral palsy, epilepsy and no speech, despite mum Sam, 30, having a perfectly happy and healthy pregnancy.
A report into his care ‘mentioned the word failure 22 TIMES’.
Tom’s case hit the headlines earlier this month after he was awarded a £2.5 million NHS pay-out following his traumatic birth at East Surrey Hospital.
Now dad Chris, speaking exclusively to Sun Online, has told of his anger at the “complete negligence” of the healthcare professionals there to deliver his son.
Chris, 42, said: “Everything had been perfectly normal all the way through the pregnancy.
“I’d had a child from a previous marriage so I knew what a normal birth should look like.
“Our first child together was done by C-section. This one was complete negligence on the midwife and the doctors.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that there was a shift change and a different nurse came on they both probably would have been dead now.”
But the dad-of-four also said he feels angry at himself – for not trusting his instincts and questioning midwives more.
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Sam was encouraged her to have a natural birth after having a C-section with her first child, according to Chris.
The trained electrician, who had to give up his job to look after Tom, said: “At the time I kept questioning the midwife, asking ‘is she ok?’ They said she was just tired. But it was more like she kept dropping in and out of consciousness.
“I just feel anger towards the hospital and the doctors. And angry at myself. The hospital did a report and they mentioned the word failure 22 times. The one thing the hospital did do was admit liability.
“At the time when I was thinking something wasn’t right – but you put your trust in the healthcare profession.
“If there is one thing I would say to anyone it is – if you’re not sure make sure you question. They don’t get it right all the time and when they get it wrong they get it really wrong.
“The doctor diagnosed him with cerebral palsy due to the lack of oxygen. A few months after that he started to suffer from epilepsy. This was all because of the negligence at the time of delivery.”
The hospital has said it is “extremely sorry for the errors in Thomas’ care”.
Dr Des Holden, medical director, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “We are extremely sorry for the errors in Thomas’ care which occurred in 2009 and regret the difficulties caused for him and his family.
“I am pleased that the Court has given approval to the resolution and compensation agreed with Thomas’s parents and hope that this will support Thomas and his family for the future.”
Now Chris says Tom is a “cheeky” little boy who loves swimming and horse riding and attends local school Chailey Heritage, which specialises in care for disabled children.
But his birth and the resulting complications have put a huge strain on the family who live in Crawley, West Sussex.
The couple have two other children Ellie-Mae, eight, and Holly, four, and Chris has teenage daughter Becky, 14, from a previous relationship.
Chris said: “It put a massive strain on us. Sam ended up suffering from severe depression because of it. I had to give up working to look after both Sam and the children.
“It affects your family. We had another daughter four years ago but obviously the time you have to put into Tom is like having a newborn baby but ten times the size. We didn’t really know until four or five days later if he was even going to live.
“But he is very alert and knows exactly what is going on around him. But it is just simple things like going on holiday where you need ten times more stuff. It is very difficult to do simple day to day tasks as a family.”
“It was very hard to adjust and it is very frustrating.”
At the beginning of this month Tom was handed a multi-million pound pay-off which will also include plus annual payments starting at £100,000 a year and rising to £245,000.
His family’s lawyers claimed that he should have been delivered earlier and Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust admitted liability in 2011.
Chris added: “The money all goes into a trust for Tom but it does mean if we need to buy equipment we can phone up and get it.
“It pays for carers as and when we need them.”
Chris and Sam won the praise of a senior judge, who took the unusual step of having a private conversation with Mr and Mrs Hord after the hearing.
Mr Justice Warby said: “I would like to express my admiration for the parents’ work and devotion to the care of their son, particularly in light of the pressures of work and family matters, that have no doubt made it even more difficult.
“The court wishes the family the very best for the future.”
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