Leila fell off a swing while playing at vacation care at Eastern Fleurieu School, south of Adelaide on September 29 and immediately complained of a sore stomach and wrist, an inquest into her death heard yesterday.
When she was still in pain when she returned home that evening, her mum and dad took her to two hospitals. She was examined, and advised her wrist was fractured, but was told her severe abdominal pain and vomiting were due to a stomach bug.
The family left the second hospital at 1.30am and Leila continued vomiting throughout the night, with her vomit turning darker until it was nearly black in colour.
She was “pale and sweaty” at 4am, having trouble breathing by 5am and “unresponsive” a few hours later. They rushed her to hospital, only to find the emergency department was closed.
By the time the on-call doctors arrived, Leila’s condition had dramatically deteriorated. They managed to get her heart started again and kept her on life support for an hour but she died when the life support was switched off at 8am.
An autopsy revealed she died of peritonitis as a result of a perforated bowel.
Leila’s death is the subject of an inquest being heard by deputy state coroner Anthony Schapel this week.
