Yusuf Mahmud Nazir died in November 2022, just days after he was sent home from hospital with antibiotics
Lucy Thornton News Reporter and Christopher Adams GAU Content Editor
07:58, 11 Dec 2025Updated 08:23, 11 Dec 2025
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir’s family are pushing for a ‘Yusuf’s Law’ in his memory(Image: PA)
The family of a young boy who tragically died after being discharged from A&E have revealed that the five-year-old has already saved “hundreds and hundreds of children’s lives.”
Yusuf Mahmud Nazir passed away in November 2022, eight days after being assessed in hospital and sent home with antibiotics. Yesterday, his family met with the UK’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting in London to advocate for Yusuf’s Law, the Mirror reports.
The family is pushing for national guidance that recognises parents’ instincts when “something feels very wrong” with their child, after their own concerns were dismissed. They also discussed the report into Yusuf’s care, published in July, and received assurances from the Mr Streeting that the recommendations would not be forgotten.
Soniya Ahmed and Zaheer Ahmed, mother and uncle of five-year-old Yusuf Mahmud Nazir(Image: PA)
Following the meeting, Yusuf’s uncle, Zaheer Ahmed, 42, said: “Yusuf’s legend is already saving lives”. He said they were happy that the British Government was treating their demands for change “very, very seriously”.
“It’s important that this is taken very seriously and these concerns are addressed nationally,” Mr Ahmed explained. He also shared how they had discussed Yusuf’s continuing impact on protecting other children.
“Maybe his life was shortened to save hundreds and hundreds of other children. We want to prevent any other child going through what Yusuf’s been through. Within the local hospitals we can see that people are using Yusuf’s name, to get the right care. His name is getting used quite a lot.
“Some of the trusts are also using Yusuf’s name in their training. His legend is saving people’s lives. Wes Streeting also made a comment on that and said ‘we are sure Yusuf has saved many many lives already’.”
Before his death, Yusuf pleaded ‘Mummy I can’t breathe'(Image: PA)
Speaking about the family’s ongoing grief, Mr Ahmed said: “It’s absolutely broken our hearts, it’s destroyed our hearts. Thinking about what could have been done, what could have been easily preventable. If only we’d been listened to, if only it was acted on, if only we were taken seriously, then Yusuf would have been still with us”.
The family recounted their desperate pleas for antibiotics, being told an ambulance was ‘not a taxi’, and witnessing other ill children waiting in hospital corridors. Mr Ahmed continued: “There’s not a day goes by where we don’t speak about Yusuf, where we’re not sharing family photographs of Yusuf.
“Our other children, Yusuf’s cousins, Yusuf’s brothers, they’re all struggling daily, asking, ‘When’s Yusuf coming back? He’s been gone for a while, when’s he back? He’s not answering our FaceTime’. He’s got two brothers, one is 13 years old and one just turned 18. It’s very, very difficult for them because they’re asking, ‘Why has Yusuf been taken? Why did Yusuf die? Why did it have to be him?’ It’s left us with a lifetime of trauma.”
Yusuf’s mum, Soniya Ahmed, said her son had been failed “catastrophically”(Image: PA)
A solicitor representing the family previously told a pre-inquest review hearing that relatives believed there had been “a number of significant systems failures” at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where he died, and Rotherham General Hospital, where he was treated earlier. Yusuf’s family have consistently maintained they were informed “there are no beds and not enough doctors” in the emergency department at Rotherham, and that their son ought to have been admitted and administered intravenous antibiotics.
The care review published in July concluded: “Our primary finding is that the parental concerns, particularly the mother’s instinct that her child was unwell, were repeatedly not addressed across services. A reliance on clinical metrics over caregiver insight caused distress for the family.
“This led to a lack of shared decision-making and there was limited evidence of collaborative discussions with Yusuf’s family around clinical decisions, leading to a sense of exclusion and reduced trust in care plans.”
Yusuf, who suffered from asthma, was brought to his GP surgery presenting with a sore throat and feeling poorly on November 15, 2022. An advanced nurse practitioner prescribed antibiotics.
Yusuf was sent home from hospital with antibiotics but died a week later(Image: PA)
Later that same evening, his parents brought him to Rotherham’s urgent and emergency care centre, where he was eventually assessed in the early morning hours following a six-hour wait. He was sent home with a diagnosis of severe tonsillitis and an extended course of antibiotics.
Two days later, Yusuf was prescribed additional antibiotics by his GP for a potential chest infection. However, his family’s worry escalated to the point where they called an ambulance and insisted that the paramedics take him to Sheffield Children’s Hospital instead of Rotherham.
On November 21, Yusuf was admitted to the intensive care unit but unfortunately developed multi-organ failure and suffered several cardiac arrests from which he did not recover. He died on November 23. A comprehensive inquest into his death is scheduled to commence on 13 April next year.
Yusuf’s uncle Zaheer Ahmed was among the family members to meet the UK Health Secretary this week(Image: PA)
At a meeting attended by Yusuf’s mother, Soniya Ahmed, and their lawyer, Anna Thwaites, Mr Ahmed stated: “We believe that the inquest will come out with a lot more truth about what happened to Yusuf. We wanted to make sure that parents’ voices are heard, it’s very important that parents get their voices heard.”
Earlier this year, Yusuf’s mum spoke at a press conference. Ms Ahmed shared her haunting memory of her son pleading, ‘Mummy I can’t breathe’. She said her “happy little boy” had been failed “catastrophically”.
“For the medical staff there are lessons to be learnt from this tragedy, but for us, our life, Yusuf has been taken away from us in the most horrific way,” Ms Ahmed said. “My son went into hospital with tonsillitis and he never returned home. My son was left to die right beside me. He was crying in pain. Yet received no pain relief.
“…The report concludes that 13 missed opportunities to escalate Yusuf’s care. All while I was trusting the NHS to protect him. They failed him catastrophically.”