By Uche Amunike
Magistrate Mikhail Kadiri, Coroner in charge of investigating the cause of death of 12 year old Sylvester Oromoni, a student of Dowen College, Lagos, has submitted his verdict which stated that he died a natural but avoidable death, which wouldn’t have occurred if the child’s parents and doctors were not negligent.
According to him, the evidence submitted showed that the young boy suffered ‘avoidable excruciating pains due to parental and medical negligence which led to his ‘needless’ death.
He stated that a total of thirty-two witnesses testified in the coroner’s inquest which began sitting on January 15, 2022. These included the parents of the late student, some staff members and some students that allegedly bullied the late student. Other witnesses were policemen who were involved in the investigation, as well as pathologists and medical doctors.
Part of the evidence relied on, were the submissions of two autopsies carried out on the deceased Sylvester Oromoni in Warri, Delta State and Lagos State.
According to the autopsy reports, the cause of his death included Septicemia which needed urgent medicare, but however, was not promptly given.
As for the autopsy conducted on the young Oromoni at the Central Hospital, Warri in Delta State, only the family members were present, while about ten pathologists that represented various parties, including the family, Dowen college and the Lagos State government, participated in the one conducted at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital.
Magistrate Kadiri’s stated from his notes: ‘Death was caused by Septicaemia (a life-threatening health condition caused by a patient’s body’s response to an infection), following infections of the lungs and kidneys arising from the ankle wound.’
‘No evidence of blunt force trauma in this body. The findings in the oesophagus and stomach are not compatible with chemical intoxication. Death, in this case, is natural.’
‘Dr Sunday Soyemi, who led the Lagos procedure has stated in the autopsy report that sepsis, which led to the death of the boy, could have been treated with “massive doses of intravenous antibiotic, intravenous fluid and blood transfusion’, but which was never done.’
He continued: ‘From the evidence, Sylvester was said to have sustained an injury on his ankle between November 20 and 21, following first aid treatment, the school contacted his parents to come and pick him up for further treatment.’
‘A guardian was sent to the school who took him for an X-ray, but no fracture was detected. But, he wasn’t taken to a hospital for care in Lagos until days later when he was moved to his base in warri, and treated at home by the family doctor, Henry Aghogho.’
He blamed the family doctor for not duly caring for Sylvester Oromoni, whose home care treatment, he said was ‘trivialized’, even though there was an early diagnosis, adding that the doctor abandoned the deceased for over 32 hours and did not conduct an X-Ray and scan early enough, as it would have revealed that his condition was worsening.
The coroner exonerated the school of negligence, as well as the 5 students that allegedly bullied him. His words: ‘The school has improved on their facilities since the incident. The claims of chemical intoxication was never proven, and the faces of those allegedly bullying the deceased weren’t seen. The alleged confession of Sylvester was denied by several witnesses. Even if he was beaten, it didn’t lead to his death.
He advised parents to take their children’s health seriously, so as to avoid such occurrences in the future and recommended a synergy between the police force and medical team, moving forward in order to ensure due caution before making arrests.
