\u201cI\u2019m not doing this out of anger or revenge because nothing can bring Eden back,\u201d Campbell told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreventing this from happening to other wh\u0101nau is what\u2019s driving me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rapana-Campbell was rushed to hospital around 9.45am on August 12. She had earlier called her mother.<\/p>\n
Campbell, who was waiting for an Uber, was on a video call with Eden when she arrived at the hospital distressed.<\/p>\n
Campbell – a mother of 10 and a family advocate – says her daughter was left in the ED hallway when she believed she should have been prioritised and placed on dialysis immediately given her health history.<\/p>\n
Eden had been on kidney dialysis three times a week at Middlemore Hospital.<\/p>\n
While still on the video call, Campbell alleges that when Eden complained of pain, she was physically pushed by a staff member and told to calm down.<\/p>\n
It is a claim that Middlemore Hospital denies.<\/p>\n
Health bosses say two reviews were initiated after the death at Middlemore Hospital’s ED. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
But Campbell said: \u201cI was trying to get to the hospital and saw this happen\u201d.<\/p>\n
Later on in the video call, \u201cEden looked at me and said: \u2018I love you mum\u2019, said she was sorry and collapsed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the last thing my baby said to me. I still feel heartbroken,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do Christmas,\u201d Campbell told the Herald, through tears. \u201cI just couldn\u2019t. This was the first Christmas without Eden and I couldn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell has requested a number of documents and video footage from Middlemore Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to know if the right care was given to Eden and if her death was preventable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Vanessa Thornton is the group director of operations at Counties Manukau and an emergency department physician. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n
Health official: Dual reviews worked on into death of kidney patient<\/p>\n
Talking to the Herald, Vanessa Thornton, group director of operations Counties, Health New Zealand offered her condolences to Rapana-Campbell\u2019s wh\u0101nau.<\/p>\n
Thornton also said she had been monitored after it was \u201cimmediately\u201d clear she was so unwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the death of Eden in August last year, and the deep impact this has had on her wh\u0101nau and friends,\u201d Thornton told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cEden\u2019s condition was immediately recognised as serious, and she was subsequently monitored.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can confirm that Eden was not physically assaulted while in our care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two reviews had been commenced after the death.<\/p>\n
An external review had already been completed, while an internal review was in the process of being finalised.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have reached out to Eden\u2019s wh\u0101nau on a number of occasions to offer wh\u0101nau and cultural support and we will continue to do so,\u201d Thornton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will share the review findings with the wh\u0101nau in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eden Rapana-Campbell recovering in Middlemore Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest in February 2025.<\/p>\n
Born with nephrotic syndrome – a kidney disorder that can lead to leaking large amounts of protein into the urine, leading to low blood protein, high cholesterol, and significant swelling – Rapana-Campbell was not expected to live past the age of 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe proved them wrong and lived 17 years without any renal therapy,\u201d her mother said.<\/p>\n
She said her daughter lived a \u201creally full life\u201d, trained as a barista and dreamed of opening her own cafe.<\/p>\n
But aged 18, she developed end-stage renal failure, or stage five chronic kidney disease and would need dialysis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat became part of her life, but she continued to show strength and determination,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI moved her from Hamilton to Auckland with the goal of getting her a kidney transplant.\u201d<\/p>\n
A young Eden Rapana-Campbell with her brothers Ethan and Jerome and her dog Charla. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Tragically, she lost her health battle six months after an earlier near-death experience.<\/p>\n
In February, Rapana-Campbell suffered a cardiac arrest and was unresponsive for 10 minutes before being resuscitated.<\/p>\n
She was later placed on life support and Campbell said family were told there was a slim chance of survival.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree weeks later, Eden woke from her coma,\u201d the grieving mother said.<\/p>\n
Campbell said her daughter had survived because \u201cemergency protocols were followed and the care escalated immediately\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat showed me when systems were followed correctly, outcomes can be very different, even in the most serious of circumstances,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She looked at me and said \u2018mum I\u2019m sorry\u2019 and collapsed. She never recovered.<\/p>\n
Kiri Campbell<\/p>\n
But she questioned whether the same processes had been followed on August 12 when her daughter was rushed to Middlemore Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cEden was well known to renal and the ED, who knew of her complex health issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she was placed in the hallway and not offered a cubicle. She told me she was calling for help and no one responded,\u201d the mum claimed.<\/p>\n
While on the video call, Campbell said she saw Eden deteriorate in front of her eyes.<\/p>\n
Eden Rapana-Campbell was known to staff at Middlemore Hospital via her regular visits for dialysis treatment. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Eden\u2019s Law \u2014 \u2018Emergency Department Escalation Network\u2019<\/p>\n
Campbell has not just restricted herself to a search for answers over care given to her daughter in her final moments.<\/p>\n
She has also been working on an initiative she has dubbed \u2018Eden\u2019s Law\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cEden needed senior oversight and coordinated care from multiple specialists,\u201d the mother claimed.<\/p>\n
Campbell believes there needs to be changes to standardised care plan for high-needs patients across hospital EDs and has drafted legislative proposals for Parliament to consider.<\/p>\n
She will take her case to Parliament and has drafted a proposal calling for a legislative and clinical standard focused on ensuring consistent monitoring, escalation, multidisciplinary oversight, and wh\u0101nau inclusion for high-risk patients across all emergency departments and acute care settings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping Eden\u2019s Law will make a difference,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n
Joseph Los\u2019e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa M\u0101ori Editor. Los\u2019e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and worked for urban M\u0101ori organisation Wh\u0101nau Waipareira.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m not doing this out of anger or revenge because nothing can bring Eden back,\u201d Campbell told the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,38864,1975,29385,536,12974,12797,124,14032,634,26034,6179,13973,15124,2082,16132,14724,19724,62821,42,2241,3274,72832,26983,3523,94502,43,1523,18481,34293,49160,6211,1361,40,38,41,39,12628,6436,30859,1354,4741],"class_list":["post-243067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-after","tag-answers","tag-at","tag-believes","tag-care","tag-change","tag-complaint","tag-could","tag-daughter","tag-death","tag-department","tag-died","tag-ed","tag-fight","tag-for","tag-formal","tag-further","tag-given","tag-grieving","tag-headlines","tag-hospital","tag-hospitals","tag-lobby","tag-lodged","tag-medical","tag-middlemore","tag-news","tag-over","tag-politicians","tag-preparing","tag-prevent","tag-system","tag-that","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-tragedy","tag-well","tag-whnau","tag-woman","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}