A judge has been told that a hospital doctor, while closing a laceration above a four-year-old child’s left eye, accidentally glued her eyelids together.
Barrister Anita Finucane, counsel for Saoirse Feeney who is now aged eight, told Judge Sinéad Ní Chúlachain in the Circuit Civil Court today that the matter had been extremely distressing for the child.
Ms Finucane, who appeared with Rachael Liston Solicitors, Greystones, Co Wicklow, said Saoirse had to have her eye irrigated four times to separate her eyelids and for six weeks after the incident she had to have antibiotic drops applied four times daily.
Saoirse sued Children’s Health Ireland through her mother, Caroline Feeney, of Castletown, Leixlip, Co Kildare.
Children’s Health Ireland, which has its head office at Herberton, St James’s Walk, Rialto, Dublin 8 is responsible for the control and management of emergency treatment for children under 15 at Crumlin Hospital, Co Dublin.
Ms Finucane told the court that in August 2022, Saoirse suffered a laceration above her left eye after hitting her head on a wooden table in the family home.
Her mother, who is a registered paediatric nurse, applied steri-strips to stem the bleeding before bringing her to the emergency department of Crumlin Hospital.
Counsel told the court that a decision had been made to glue the laceration and during the procedure excessive glue had been used resulting in glue having dripped into Saoirse’s eye.
It led to an irrigation treatment with three litres of fluid to remove what was described as “copious glue use”.
“The irrigation procedure was an extremely distressing event,” Ms Finucane said.
Judge Ní Chúlachain heard that Saoirse’s left eye had been glued shut and a real concern had existed that her eyesight could have been impaired. She had been taken to Temple Street Children’s hospital for the separation of her eyelids and had to undergo irrigation.
A large amount of glue remained struck to the child’s eyebrows for some time and some of her bottom eyelashes had fallen out as they had been matted together.
Saoirse had felt very self-conscious as she attended school for the first time nine days after the treatment.
Some of her eyelashes had turned inwards which had compounded her distress.
Ms Finucane said Children’s Health Ireland had made a settlement offer of €15,000 compensation to Saoirse and counsel recommended acceptance of it to the court.
Judge Ní Chúlachain said Saoirse had been very lucky there had been no permanent injury to her eye and approved the settlement offer which, the judge said, was at the top of recommended compensation for transient eye injury.
In a brief conversation with the judge, Saoirse said she now had no memory whatsoever of her experiences at the hospital.