Down an on-duty radiologist, hospital initially misses child’s broken neck

Two days went by before a radiologist read the x-rays of an 8-year-old girl in Australia who had a broken neck and was sent home from the hospital with only pain pills, Britain’s Daily Mail reports.

The parents were understandably aghast when the hospital called the family back and explained that doctors now realized the minor “muscle damage” was, in fact, four fractured vertebrae and a severed ligament.

“I was a mess, I was angry, I was sad,” the girl’s mother told a local TV station. “If she had any more trauma to her neck she could have potentially ended up in a wheelchair.”

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Dave Pearson

Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.

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