Dr. Presents Theory on Death of Savannah Hall
By 250 News
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 12:19 PM
Prince George, B.C. - Dr. Marie Hay has presented a theory on what happened to cause the death of three year old Savannah Hall and it does not involve abuse.
Hay was the only witness on the stand today at the Coroner’s inquest into the death of three year old Savannah Hall.
Dr. Hay was the Paediatrician who attended Savannah, when the child was rushed to Prince George Hospital in January of 2001.
Dr. Hay says she only recently came across an article in the British Medical Journal which sent off warning bells as the article addressed four cases of children who had developed severe swelling of the brain. In one case, the child’s body temperature had dropped to a very low level. The case was very similar to the events involving Savannah.
Dr. Hay says the article talks about how low sodium levels can trigger seizures and in Savannah’s case Dr. Hay says it was a "constellation lining up for a perfect storm."
Dr. Hay’s theory is that:
- for ten days before arriving at hospital Savannah had contracted a viral illness,
- she then became bacterially infected which brought on the viral myocarditis.
- Savannah had a bacterial ear infection and all these factors combined left the child’s body weak,
- Savanah didn’t want to eat, instead, she was only interested in liquids and that would cause a slow drop in her sodium levels.
- She was put to bed “unwell” and was given a bottle of milk mixed with a raw egg and bananas.
- Savannah may have had a seizure, brought on by the low sodium levels,
- vomited and was too weak to lift her head to clear her airway.
- She either suffocated in her pillow, or went into respiratory arrest because she had inhaled some of her own vomit.
“That doesn’t explain the bruises” says Dr. Hay, but she is confident it does explain what happened to Savannah. It explains the low body temperature as the article notes how in all four cases the children had lower than normal body temperatures and it explains the low sodium levels in her blood.
The testimony of Dr. Hay brought one lawyer to his feet asking that the pathologist, Dr, Glenn Taylor be recalled to answer questions about this theory.
Savannah Hall was in foster care in 2001 when she was taken to the Emergency department of Prince George Regional Hospital. She was transferred to Vancouver and died at BC Children’s Hospital on January 26th 2001.
The Coroner’s Inquest can only determine how she died, and cannot assess blame.
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Posted by: thereasonableman on October 24 2007 10:35 PM