Baby whose arm was broken in hospital on the mend

But the young couple say they might still resort to legal action, after Life Wilgeheuwel said they could not find fault on their side.


The young couple whose newborn mysteriously suffered a broken arm while in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Life Wilgeheuwel Hospital, are relieved that their baby is on the mend.

“She went for an X-ray about a week ago and her arm is healing,” the baby’s father, Gaven Dahms told Roodepoort Northsider.

The baby, born in December 2019, suffered a broken arm in hospital. Dahms and Taylin-Leigh Shellard accused the hospital of negligence; however, the hospital could not find fault from their side during an internal investigation.

 Gaven Dahms and his girlfriend Taylin-Leigh Shellard with their injured newborn. Photo: Supplied.

The adamant couple told Roodepoort Northsider that the hospital still expected them to use their depleting medical aid for the baby’s check-ups.

“We went to the hospital management to ask them to cover the medical expenses since our medical aid is running out, but they refused to help, maintaining that they were not at fault in the first place because the baby was handled by many hands,” he alleged.

Dahms added that they might resort to legal action, since they feared for the worst.

“Our biggest worry is that she wouldn’t be able to crawl or play sports in future if we are unable to cover the full medical costs,” he lamented, alluding that the hospital should take some responsibility since the baby was injured while in their care.

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