A Coventry family has expressed profound distress and frustration after their son, Taylor Miller, a teenager with cerebral palsy, suffered two broken bones in his leg while staying at a respite care facility. The injury occurred during his stay at Broad Park House in March, and the family has raised serious concerns about the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Taylor, who requires 24-hour care due to his condition and was born prematurely at just 23 weeks and four days, was at Broad Park House to receive respite care. According to his mother, Laura Miller, a critical error was made at the home which led to Taylor’s injury. She explained that his leg was not properly secured with a u-strap, causing a hoist to tip over, resulting in Taylor’s wheelchair, which weighs about 80kg—nearly three times Taylor’s own weight of 31kg—falling onto his legs.
“He has two breaks — tibia and fibula — and he is in full cast for six weeks,” Laura said in an interview with CoventryLive. “This was caused by them not u-strapping his leg causing the hoist to then tip his chair. The weight of the chair was then on his leg.”
The injury happened on 19 March, but Taylor was nevertheless sent to Sherbourne Fields school the following day, where he arrived “crying hysterically.” The school made several attempts to contact the care home to understand the cause of Taylor’s distress. Initially, the home claimed that his leg had simply been “caught,” only acknowledging at the third call that the injury had occurred the previous evening around 5:30pm.
Laura recounted, “I then got a call from school as they had called an ambulance. I took him to hospital myself and arrived there at 4pm, almost 24 hours after he was hurt.”
The physical trauma has been compounded by emotional and psychological impacts on Taylor and his family. Laura described the recent weeks as “the hardest four weeks ever” and said Taylor has been “very miserable… not his usual smiley self at all” and less sociable than usual. She also noted the impact on her other children, who have found it difficult to see their brother in pain.
While Laura praised Sherbourne Fields school for their response, she voiced deep disappointment with the care home’s handling of the incident, particularly their failure to log the injury as an incident or notify her as Taylor’s parent, as well as their decision to send Taylor to school in severe pain without informing the school.
“I feel so angry and let down. But I want Taylor’s voice heard and I want to try and make sure no other family has to be put in this situation,” Laura stated.
In response to the accusations, Coventry City Council issued a statement saying, “Safeguarding is always our number one concern, so we are extremely concerned by the allegations that have been made. An investigation is underway to understand what happened. As the investigation is live and active, it would not be appropriate to comment further until it has concluded.”
The family is currently awaiting the outcome of the council’s investigation as Taylor continues his recovery.
Source: Noah Wire Services