- .Experienced first aider Dwayne Cuming, 39, attempted to revive Harry
- .Boy began gasping for breath whilst watching TV at Lancashire home
- .Father had to clear son's airways after paramedic broke down in tears
By MARK DUELL
A father was forced to try to save his son’s life after a female paramedic collapsed in tears as she struggled to insert a tube into the boy's throat, an inquest heard.
Harry Cuming, 10, had been sitting at home eating a hot dog and watching television with his brother in Croston, Lancashire, when he suffered a severe asthma attack.
After his inhaler failed to help, he was given a more powerful nebuliser but it had no effect. He began to cry and told his father Dwayne: ‘Dad, dad, it’s not working’, before collapsing on the floor.
Paramedics arrived at the scene and attempted to treat Harry but he had turned blue and stopped breathing. As one of the medics tried to open his airway, she broke down and it was at this point that experienced first aider Mr Cuming, 39, stepped in to help.
Despite his desperate efforts, the boy was pronounced dead at hospital. He had suffered a cardiac and respiratory arrest.
Fatal attack: Harry Cuming began gasping for breath whilst watching TV at home in Lancashire with his brother
Brothers: The tragedy occurred when Dwayne Cuming, Harry (right) and his other son Lewis (left), now three, had been watching TV after enjoying hot dogs bought from the supermarket
In a statement read to Preston Coroner's Court, Mr Cuming described the events that led to his son's tragic death on October 15, 2011.
The mechanical engineer said: ‘He knelt down holding the (nebuliser) mask to his face, he started to cry. I realised it was very serious. I have not seen Harry like this before.
'I was more concerned than ever. He was leant against the living room wall stamping his foot and said, "Dad, dad it’s not working".
‘Harry’s lips were turning blue, I took hold of him, he collapsed, I put him on the floor - at this point he had stopped breathing.’
He then described how medics had arrived and began to treat him.
'Devastated': Harry's mother Vicky Cuming at the inquest into his death at Preston Coroner's Court
‘The paramedic couldn’t get the (endotracheal) tube in, she couldn’t understand why, she was shaking and she started to cry. I suggested using a vacuum cleaner to clear his airways,' he said.
‘Harry was occasionally gasping for breaths. I managed to clear the airways by putting my hand down his throat and carefully controlled the vacuum nozzle.
‘I remember the paramedics trying to do something with the intervention tube. I carried Harry to the ambulance, they struggled to find a vein and were having difficulties assembling the suction pump.
‘I went in the ambulance - none of the ambulance crew took over and let me carry on.’
The inquest is investigating the emergency treatment provided to Harry who died just four days after he was discharged from hospital where he had been treated for a similar attack. His family has also claimed he had earlier received ‘a reduced level of treatment’ by doctors.
Mr Cuming said that he had taken Harry and his brother Lewis, who is now three, out to the supermarket while his wife Vicky was at work at a hairdressing salon.
They bought hotdogs and white buns from Tesco and arrived back at around 6pm to have tea.
‘Harry had two hotdogs and may have helped himself to Pringles', he said. 'At 7pm I was setting up a DVD for the boys to watch. I saw him using his inhaler and asked if he was taking his preventative medication.
‘On the phone he told Vicky his chest was a bit tight but it was nothing unusual, he told me his chest was quite tight and puffed on his inhaler. ‘He was getting frustrated saying he needed his nebuliser because his inhaler wasn’t working.’
The hearing was told how Harry, who had been born six weeks premature, was diagnosed with asthma when he was just six months old after developing a chest infection.
Pronounced dead: The Accident and Emergency department at the Royal Preston Hospital where Harry died
The family had learnt to recognise the severity of his attacks and had been prescribed preventative medication including inhalers, antibiotics and steroids to be taken numerous times a day.
In the lead up to his death he had been admitted to hospital in October and December 2010, January, February, March and July 2011.
UK'S MOST COMMON LONG-TERM MEDICAL CONDITION IN CHILDREN
Some 1.1million children in the UK suffer from asthma and it is the country’s most common long-term medical condition in youngsters.
There are more than 1,100 deaths related to the condition every year. In 2009, 12 deaths occurred in children aged under 14.
On average, three people every day die as a result of the condition.
In 2008/9, the latest figures available, there were over 79,794 emergency hospital admissions for asthma in the UK in 2008-09.
Of these, 30,740 were children aged 14 years or under. A child is admitted to hospital every 17 minutes as a result of the condition.
Asthma affects the small tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs.
Anything that irritates sufferers’ airways causes the muscles around the walls of the airways tighten so they become narrower.
This sees the lining of the airways becomes inflamed and start to swell. Sticky mucus or phlegm can also builds up on occasions, which makes the airways even more narrow.
This can cause the airways to become irritated, making it harder to breathe.
He was admitted again on October 9, 2011 and stayed for at Preston Royal Hospital for two nights. He was treated by consultant paediatrician Dr Dhia Mahmood, who had been seeing him between 2004 and 2008.
‘We were cautious in discharging him but he was managing his sentences and did not need his nebulisers', he said. 'We don’t discharge children and not see them again. He would be seen by another doctor in one month.’
Mr Cuming and his family say they felt ‘fobbed off’ by medics after believing that preventative medication prescribed to his son could have been increased when he was discharged before his death.
'The treatment Harry received clearly wasn’t working', he said. We asked for several treatment review several times over the years but we were told he was on maximum dosage and couldn’t try anything else.
‘Harry was discharged four days before his death. He had more tightness in his chest and was becoming wheezy.
‘He had a constant heavy wheeze in the last months of his life. He was in an almost state of wheeziness and was laboured in breathing.
‘He was taken to A and E his entire life and suffered life threatening attacks, maybe four or five times, desperately gasping for breath.
‘We started to notice significant physical changes six months before his death. He gained a lot of weight and was growing quickly.’
Leena Savjani, a specialist medical lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Harry’s parents, said: ‘The family were devastated by Harry’s death as they had helped to carefully manage his asthma for many years.
‘They have some concerns and questions about the events leading up to his death and hope the inquest will provide them with the answers they need to be able to come to terms with the tragic loss of their son.’
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