‘We still can’t grieve’
“I can't look at my son's pictures because I don't know what happened to his organs.”
The mother of a baby boy whose organs were incinerated without her knowledge after his death has said she is still waiting for answers almost 3 years later.
Katie Quilligan’s son James, who died in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) in January 2020 at just 2 days old, is one of 18 babies’ whose organs were wrongfully sent to Belgium by CUMH to be incinerated without their parents’ knowledge.
Ms Quilligan, who is a spokesperson for 9 of the families involved, said a report on the mistake has been completed but that parents are yet to see it.
Ms Quilligan said the mental anguish caused by 3 years of waiting for answers has caused her to develop severe social anxiety. “I can't go out in the public with my kids anymore,” said Ms Quilligan.
“My kids have missed out on so much over the last year because I am after getting so much social anxiety over all of this.”
She added: “Our families are suffering. We still can’t grieve. James will be dead 3 years in January.
“I thought I had grieved but again I’m stuck in a loophole.”
Ms Quilligan told the Cork Independent: “My son’s pictures that were in my sitting room, I had to take them down because I can’t look at them. We need the answers.”
According to Ms Quilligan, the report, which has been delayed numerous times due to CUMH seeking legal advice, will now not be published until all 18 families come forward.
Ms Quilligan will attend a protest outside CUMH tomorrow morning, Friday, calling for the immediate publication of the report.
“It’s hurting us even more now that we know the report is done. They need to know the impact this has had on our daily lives.
“We want closure and we’re not letting this fight down,” she said.
Responding to the latest calls for the report to be published, a spokesperson for the South/South West Hospital Group said: “The external review is ongoing. The review team has and continues to maintain regular contact with the families who participated in the review.
“Once completed, the final report will be shared with all relevant stakeholders including the families involved.”
Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, has described the continuing delay as “shocking and completely unacceptable”.
Deputy Ó Laoghaire said: “In September of last year, an RTÉ Investigates programme concerning the disposal of babies’ organs at CUMH drew outrage and caused untold hurt to the families involved.”
He said: “They signed a consent form saying that organs had to be disposed of in a sensitive manner by burial or cremation; and that they would be contacted before that could happen. That did not occur, and it is a really shocking incident for babies’ organs to be disposed of along with medical waste,” he concluded.