ESQUIMALT -- An Esquimalt couple is speaking out against Island Health after they claim their new-born baby suffered third-degree burns to his foot and ankle while being cared for at Victoria General Hospital.
Tracy Louie and Kenny Charlie welcomed their son, Kenneth, into the world on Dec. 10. It should have been an exciting time for the new parents, but after just three days, they claim their son was injured at the hands of a nurse.
“It should have never happened,” said mother Tracy Louie. “She should have known how to do her job.”
Louie says that the nurse was about to take some bloodwork when she wrapped a hot cloth around her son’s foot and ankle, and then covered it with a diaper for a couple of minutes.
“That really upset him. He cried and cried,” said Louie.
“We didn’t realize until a couple hours later when he started developing bubbles of fluid at the bottom of his foot and on his ankle and on his toes,” she said.
Later, Louie says the nurse asked her if she had caused the injury.
“It was ridiculous that she would even assume something like that,” said Louie.
In a statement to CTV News, Island Health said it is aware of the incident and is in close contact with the family.
“We take concerns about patient care very seriously,” reads the statement. “We acknowledge how distressing this situation is for the family and we are doing everything we can to determine what happened and how we can prevent this from happening again.”
Louie says officials have been in contact, but it’s not enough.
“It’s a lot of questions of what they can do in the future...which doesn’t help us now. It happened to my baby,” she said.
The family returned home from the hospital yesterday, and baby Kenneth is recovering.
“Now that we’re home, I’m feeling a little better, but still not happy about what happened to our son,” said father Kenny Charlie.
Louie says she has yet to receive an apology from the nurse, and she would like to see disciplinary action.
