Another Doctor, Another Theory in Savannah Hall's Death

By 250 News

As the Coroner’s inquest into the death of Savannah Hall continues, there has been yet another medical opinion on how the three year old died

On the stand this morning, Dr. Robert Reece,  of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston Massachusetts.   Dr. Reece is a professor of Paediatrics, and has expertise in child abuse.

Dr. Reece agrees with Dr. Glenn Taylor and Dr. Marie Hay, that Savannah died from brain damage, however, he has yet a different version of how that brain damage came about.

 Savannah, says Dr. Reece, suffered brain damage as a result of suffocation.  How did she suffocate?

He isn’t certain. 

Dr. Reece says it could have been intentional,  it could be that she inhaled some material into her lungs, or, something could have blocked her airway.  Dr. Reece is certain this death could have been prevented. “A quicker response to signs of distress would have been appropriate” says Dr. Reece.  In Savannah’s case, the foster mother said the tot was making little gasps, the kind of sounds a child might make after a crying episode.  It wasn’t until those little gasps turned into gurgling sounds that the foster mother   had her husband call for help.

Dr. Reece disagreed with Dr. Hay’s theory that Savannah suffered a seizure brought on by low sodium levels.  He thinks the low sodium was a result of the brain swelling, not the cause of the swelling.

He also disagrees with the pathologist, Dr. Glenn Taylor who reported myocarditis was a factor, which may have caused an arythmia, reducing the flow of oxygen to the brain, resulting in brain swelling.

He offered some recommendations to prevent this kind of death from recurring:

• lower numbers of children in care in any particular home, especially if the children have special needs ( in this case there were  9 children in the home, 7 of which were  in foster care)
• -special needs children need to be in homes where the foster parents have special training
• -needs to be resources provided to assist the foster system
• -all foster parents should have certified CPR training
• -Foster parents should be able to recognize some illnesses so the signals of these events can be acted upon as soon as possible
• -needs to be constant “surveillance” and by that, he  said,  he is referring to  regular home visits by professionals, (preferably a nurse) who  can  recognize potential signs of abuse, or illness.

The inquest continues, with  Ministry of Children and Families  Social workers  testifying as to their involvement with Savannah and the foster home.

Savannah Hall  was in a coma  when she was rushed  to Prince George Regional Hospital in  January of 2001.  She was transferred to Childrens Hospital where she died on January 26th, 2001

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