Parents say ‘trust your gut’ after infant sent home from hospital later diagnosed with meningitis
Katelynn Hawes and Quentin Brunelle had been looking forward to celebrating their baby’s first Christmas at home with her big brother. However, their joy was shattered when their nearly three-month-old daughter Evalynn fell ill with bacterial meningitis. The family spent much of the holidays in hospitals, with Evalynn battling the potentially fatal infection that they believe should have been caught by medical professionals sooner.
According to Hawes, Evalynn started showing signs of being unwell on Christmas Eve, and the family decided to take her to the hospital the next day if her condition didn’t improve. When her fever spiked on Christmas Day, they rushed her to Leamington’s Erie Shores HealthCare for medical attention. After running some tests, the hospital provided possible explanations for Evalynn’s illness and sent the family home with instructions to return if her condition worsened. Despite their concerns, they were dismissed when they insisted on getting fluids for Evalynn’s dehydration.
Feeling unsettled by the lack of care they received, the family sought a second opinion at Windsor Regional Hospital’s Met Campus on December 26. It was there that Evalynn was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, a serious infection that affects the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord. Following the confirmation of the infection’s severity through an MRI, Evalynn was transferred to London’s Victoria Children’s Hospital for further treatment.
Since then, Evalynn has experienced multiple strokes and seizures, leaving her parents devastated and anxious about her long-term prognosis. Hawes and Brunelle are now advocating for other parents to trust their instincts and seek second opinions when necessary, as they believe that prompt action could have prevented the severity of Evalynn’s illness.
The hospital where Evalynn was initially treated has committed to conducting a third-party review of the case in response to the family’s concerns. While the family remains in London for Evalynn’s ongoing care, they are grateful for the support of their extended family and have set up a GoFundMe to help cover expenses related to their time off work and travel.
Despite the challenges they are facing, Hawes and Brunelle are determined to ensure that what happened to their daughter serves as a cautionary tale for other families. They emphasize the importance of advocating for children who cannot speak for themselves and stress the need for improved knowledge, care, and empathy in the healthcare system to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
