A father has relived the harrowing last moments of his ten-year-old son's life as he tried in vain to save him – after a female paramedic broke down in tears when she couldn't get her equipment to work.
Dwayne Cuming, 39, desperately attempted to revive his son Harry after the boy began gasping for breath whilst watching television at home with his brother, an inquest heard.
Both Harry's inhaler and a more powerful nebuliser failed to stop the asthma attack, causing him to cry and plead with his father: "Dad, dad it's not working" before collapsing on the floor.
Although ambulance staff arrived at the scene, Mr Cuming a mechanical engineer, had to clear his son's airways himself after a female paramedic broke down in tears as she failed to insert the endotracheal tube in Harry's throat to clear his airways.
Mr Cuming said: "I realised it was very serious. I have not seen Harry like this before, I was more concerned than ever.
"He was leant against the living room wall stamping his foot and said, 'Dad, dad it's not working'. Harry's lips were turning blue, I took hold of him, he collapsed, I put him on the floor, at this point he had stopped breathing."
"The paramedic couldn't get the tube in, she couldn't understand why, she was shaking and she started to cry.
"I suggested using a vacuum cleaner to clear his airways. Harry was occasionally gasping for breaths. I managed to clear the airways by putting my hand down his throat and carefully controlled the vacuum nozzle.
Harry, from Croston, near Preston, Lancashire, was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead 50 minutes later after suffering a cardiac and respiratory arrest.
The inquest into Harry's death was told the asthma attack occurred just four days after the youngster was discharged from hospital following a similar episode.
On that occasion, he had been sent home, leaving his family feeling "fobbed off" by doctors who sent him home without making any changes to his medication.
In the lead up to his death he had been admitted to hospital in October and December 2010, January, February, March and July 2011.
Mr Cuming said: "The treatment Harry received clearly wasn't working. We asked for several treatment reviews several times over the years but we were told he was on maximum dosage and couldn't try anything else. Harry was discharged four days before his death. He had more tightness in his chest and was becoming wheezy.
"He had a constant heavy wheeze in the last months of his life. He was in an almost state of wheeziness and was laboured in breathing.
"He was taken to A and E his entire life and suffered life-threatening attacks, maybe four or five times, desperately gasping for breath. We started to notice significant physical changes six months before his death. He gained a lot of weight and was growing quickly."
Consultant paediatrician Dr Dhia Mahmood who treated Harry between 2004 and 2008 saw him when he was admitted to casualty on October 9th 2011 said: "He was admitted with shortness of breath and wheezing, he was using his inhaler but it wasn't responding and received two nebulisers and another dilator to improve the wheezing.
"He responded well and the decision was to keep him in for two nights. He [Harry] told me at the time he was not taking his serevent inhaler regularly, I told him it was important as a preventive treatment. He was on a high dose of medication.
"We were cautious in discharging him but he was managing his sentences and did not need his nebulisers. We don't discharge children and not see them again. He would be seen by another doctor in one month."
Leena Savjani, a lawyer representing Harry's parents, said: "The family were devastated by Harry's death as they had helped to carefully manage his asthma for many years.
"They have some concerns and questions about the events leading up to his death and hope the inquest will provide them with the answers they need to be able to come to terms with the tragic loss of their son."
According to official figures, around 1.1m children in the UK suffer from asthma and it is the country's most common long-term medical condition in youngsters. There are more than 1,100 deaths related to the condition every year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10351911/Boy-10-cries-Dad-dad-its-not-working-as-paramedic-fails-to-save-him-from-asthma-attack.html
