Indiana girl, 11, beat cancer... but nurse made a terrible mistake that ended up KILLING her
Ava Wilson, of Crown Point, Indiana, was in remission from b-lymphoblastic leukemia in October 2020 when she went for a follow-up appointment at Advocate Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois - about 45 minutes outside of Chicago.
Her 'outlook was positive' and 'she had no detectable leukemia in her blood' at the time, according to Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., the legal team representing her family.
But during her visit on October 29 of that year at the children's hospital, Wilson was 'crying in pain' and 'had difficulty walking and foot drop,' the attorneys added.
Tests soon revealed she has low platelet counts, low blood cell counts, high liver enzymes and low blood pressure.
Wilson was then discharged from the hospital with instructions from a nurse practitioner to take 15 milligrams of morphine every four hours - triple the amount of her past prescriptions.
A nurse also increased her gabapentin prescription, which is a nerve pain medication used to treat seizures, CBS News reported.
About 36 hours later, on October 31, Wilson died in her sleep at home from acute drug toxicity from several substances, 'including lethal levels of morphine', hydroxyzine and gabapentin.
Her devastated parents went on to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital, noting Wilson's oncologist did not examine their daughter, but instead turned to the nurse's 'at-home pain management plan' instead, the filing, reviewed by the Sun Herald, read.
'Instead of admitting Ava to the hospital to get her blood pressure, heart rate and pain levels within acceptable and normal limits, Advocate employees sent Ava home with an excessive [amount of] pain medications,' Matthew L. Williams, the family's lead attorney, said.
'Ava's body was yelling out to these clinicians, "help me!", and they just ignored it.'
On Thursday, the jury awarded her family $20.5million in damages following the civil trial.
'While nothing will ease the depth of Ava's loved ones' pain, the family appreciates that the jury recognized that Ava's death was preventable and that she should still be with them today,' attorney Aaron Boeder said.
In response to the recent settlement, Advocate Children's Hospital told Daily Mail: 'Our hearts go out to this family. We are committed to providing appropriate care to every patient.
'Due to patient privacy, we are unable to comment further.'
Her mother, Pamela Wilson, has remembered her late daughter as the 'light of my life.'
'She was an amazing little girl, just so beautiful, full of life, very kind and generous,' Wilson told CBS News.
'When you lose a child, your life stops.... So, there's relief, but there's also a sense of - my life really hasn't changed.
'Ava's still not here. She's not gonna be around, you know, her siblings aren't gonna have her, I'm not going to have her,' Pamela added.
Ava was the oldest of her three siblings, according to her obituary.
She loved playing soccer, was involved in the Science Olympiad and was also an Honor Student. Wilson also enjoyed taking cooking and art classes at the local YMCA, it added. A funeral service was held for her on November 7, 2020.
She loved playing soccer, was involved in the Science Olympiad and was also an Honor Student.
Wilson also enjoyed taking cooking and art classes at the local YMCA, it added.
A funeral service was held for her on November 7, 2020.
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