Eden and Charleigh
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
‘Mum, on her deathbed, and dad, on his deathbed, asked me to make sure that everything was done to take care of [Eden]. And we were doing the best but we were held back by people in the system.’
Eden, mid 50s, had intellectual and physical disability and epilepsy. She lived in a group home.
Charleigh, Eden’s sister, told the Royal Commission there were just ‘so many let downs … and failings’ in Eden’s care.
About 10 days before Eden died, a staff member saw her have a five-second seizure while she was putting on her pyjamas. Later, she saw Eden crying and rubbing her arm. She had two big blue bruises on her elbow and shoulder.
The next day a different staff member took Eden to the GP who referred her to hospital for X-rays. She was at the hospital for nine hours before she was discharged back to the group home. She had a shattered arm socket and was put in a sling. Staff didn’t notify Eden’s family.
Over the next few days staff continued to move Eden in and out of bed using the hoist, and in and out of taxis without any proper pain relief.
‘You’re going to go through the roof with your pain levels.’ Charleigh said. ‘It’s going to feel like it just happened every time you move it. So, for her to be given a couple of Panadeine Fortes as her pain medication, I don’t think that that would have even touched it.’
A day later, a skin integrity check showed two red marks on Eden’s wrist and neck.
The following week a staff member called Charleigh, telling her Eden was ‘in a bad way’ and she was considering calling an ambulance. ‘You should have already called it,’ Charleigh replied.
Charleigh was at the hospital when Eden arrived.
A doctor told her to be ‘wise and kind in the decision-making process’. Charleigh said she’s still ‘haunted by these words’. Eden was in a palliative state – dehydrated, malnourished and having constant seizures.
Charleigh found the hospital’s attitude baffling. She told them to treat her sister, operate if necessary and give her pain relief.
When the hospital said they wouldn’t operate, she demanded they transfer Eden to a different hospital.
The palliative team at the second hospital confirmed she was in palliative state. She was not eating or drinking and was experiencing delirium.
‘Then we find out that there can be an operation to relieve her of her pain, a nerve block, a week later.’
The operation was successful and Charleigh couldn’t understand why it wasn’t offered sooner.
Two days later, the hospital rang Charleigh and told her and the family to come to the hospital. When they arrived, a doctor told them Eden had died.
The hospital called the police, who then questioned the family over Eden’s body. The room was treated as a crime scene.
An autopsy showed Eden died from pneumonia caused from her broken arm and high levels of an anaesthetic which can bring on seizures and cause death. Charleigh was not sure why Eden was still receiving this drug given the operation was successful. The same red marks were recorded in the autopsy in addition to bruising on her right hip.
Charleigh suspects that Eden’s injuries were caused by a seizure and a fall at home, which were covered up by the provider. She also believes if staff had rung an ambulance when Eden sustained the injuries, she would have survived.
‘There needs to be more accountability.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.