[0:00]For any parent, the first cry of their newborn child is the most anticipated and glorious sound imaginable. It certainly was for Benish and Daniel Khan when their daughter Amelia came into the world at a Sydney hospital. Within minutes though, everything changed and the baby was fighting for life. But it wasn't because she was unhealthy. There'd been a catastrophic bungle at the hospital. Unknown to the doctors and nurses, when they gave Amelia what they thought was oxygen to help her breathing, they were in fact poisoning her with another gas. On assignment for 60 Minutes, Nine News reporter Chris O'Keefe investigates an unforgivable case of negligence.
[0:51]Sometimes nothing is as it appears. Congratulations. Every one in this hospital operating theatre, the doctors, nurses and even first time parents, Benish and Daniel Khan, genuinely believe this is a moment of elation. I was very excited, very excited. Amelia Khan has just been born and she's perfect. Being able to see her, who does she look like more, does she look like me more than dad and... Daniel proudly swings the camera around determined not to miss the precious first breaths of his daughter's life. What he's really recording though is an unfolding and unimaginable disaster. No one here is aware of it, but there's been a deadly mix-up. Instead of oxygen, another gas is being pumped through the mask and into baby Amelia's tiny lungs. From completely healthy to being suffocated with poison and fighting for life. And tragically, it's all right there on video. You would never for a second think that in a country like Australia something like this can happen. There were people at fault for this. Tonight, for the first time, grieving couple search for answers. I am angry about this, and you know what, what they've done is a terrible thing. About the negligence that allowed a catastrophe to occur, not once, but twice. In talking seconds to minutes, where serious brain injury can occur. And worse still, why it could all happen again. They're absolutely ticking time bombs right around the place.
[2:46]Today, Amelia Khan tries so hard to be a happy four-year-old girl. Let's try this one. But she struggles. She and her family will forever live with the consequences of an incomprehensible medical mistake, that left her severely brain damaged. Should we put a game on for Amelia? It's a long way from the joy Benish felt when she fell pregnant. I was actually told I wouldn't be able to have kids quite easily, and so finding out I was pregnant with Amelia was a very big blessing for us. It was June 2016 when Benish went to Sydney's Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital to give birth to her first child. Being a new mother, you don't know what to expect and so you really do um put all your trust in where the um whoever is there to look after you. As everyone does. Yeah, exactly. Benish's pregnancy had been relatively straightforward, but to be extra safe, doctors decided on a Caesarean delivery. Congratulations. Which as cruel fate would have it was scheduled for the hospital's theatre number eight. Sorry, I'm recording is that alright? And so routine was the operation, there was no way the very proud new dad Daniel was going to miss recording any of the action. This is my first child, I wanted to capture the first moments of, you know, my daughter coming into the world. I think just hearing her cry for the first time, it felt strange to, you know, have this person so close to you for nine months and then finally be able to hear them and see them. What are they doing? The baby is just a little bit sleepy. The operation to deliver the baby was problem-free, but to help with her first breaths, it was decided to give Amelia oxygen. That action wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but instead of responding, the baby's condition started deteriorating. Let someone assess the, ah, the heart rate again, while I do CPR. Excitement turned to distress. We're okay? Yeah. At the time, doctors and nurses had no idea what was wrong, but we now know a mechanical bungle in the hospital meant she was being given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen. The effect was devastating. Amelia couldn't breathe. She was suffocating. That's right, yeah. Still to this day I remember in that theater listening to her cries in between the gassing. One, two, three. Confused doctors tried to resuscitate her, while she was gasping for air. Listening to them take that mask off for that couple of seconds, hearing her squealing, not the sound that a baby makes. It was sound that a baby makes in pain. It's just something that haunts you forever. Everything's fine. What is the consequence of giving a baby the wrong gas upon birth? If it's a gas that doesn't contain oxygen then the consequences are exceptionally severe. Pediatric anesthetist and Sydney University academic Justin Scono says it's not unusual for newborns to need oxygen. Any child who shows any signs of a slight slowness of breathing or a different color, might be given a little bit of oxygen even though they may not actually need it. And it's just to wake them up, help them along? That's right. The baby is transitioning from being inside the mom to being in the outside world, and they're activating a series of breathing processes, which we all think of as natural and normal but it's new for the little baby.
[6:47]But they need to get that oxygen on board and they need to do it quickly. But instead of oxygen, Amelia had been given nitrous oxide. And not just once, it happened on and off for around an hour. And what happens to a child's brain if they're deprived of oxygen? If it occurs for more than a few minutes then the brain deprived of oxygen gets into serious trouble, and after a while that serious trouble is irreversible and you have brain damage. They were just like, you know, more than 50% of her brain is damaged and she will most likely not be able to move, she won't be able to eat. She won't even be able to come off life support without her passing away. At first, what had happened to Amelia was a medical mystery. But all the doctors and hospital staff could say was that she was very unlikely to survive. Heartbroken, Benish and Daniel took photos of their beautiful daughter, before making the toughest decision of their lives to turn off Amelia's life support. I've never buried anybody that's close to me in my family. I've never experienced that.
[8:09]So she was just in our arms sleeping and we were just, well, maybe this is her last breath, maybe this is her last breath. And that kept on going for a month. Against the odds, Amelia fought to stay in her parents' lives, but they still had no idea why she was so sick. Then, about a month after her birth, the Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital called them to an emergency meeting. They were told more terrible news. Another newborn baby, John Ganham had died after being given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen in the same operating theater. And um we sat down and they sent to us that I'm sorry, but there was an issue with the gas in the hospital. And instead of oxygen, it was nitrous oxide and I was a bit confused. I was like, well, what do you mean what's nitrous oxide? And they're like, well, you know, the gas that they give you, it's a happy gas, it helps you relax. That, that's what came out and that's what we gave her. And I remember we didn't ask too many questions. We just said to them, well, if you gave her oxygen, would she be in the situation she is right now? And they said no, everything would have been very different. Coming up. I cannot think of a more tragic case. The stuff up, 100% absolutely avoidable. That led to disaster. Does that give you some hope in the justice system? And the battle to make sure it never happens again. When something's happened and we don't react, that's a crime in itself. That's next on 60 Minutes.
[9:57]That four-year-old Amelia Khan is even alive today shows she's a fighter. Step, step, step, yes. But she's terribly damaged. The victim of one of the worst medical mistakes in Australian history.
[10:17]This appalling tale began five years ago when new gas lines needed to be installed here at Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital. There was a mix-up in theater eight though. Nitrous oxide was attached to the oxygen outlet. Doctors and nurses had no idea of the mistake, but from that moment on, disaster was inevitable. In the year that followed, 34 babies were delivered without requiring oxygen. Tragically, for Amelia, she needed it. Worse still, the mistake wasn't picked up for another month. Until the second baby, John Ganeham was also given the deadly gas and died. Good evening, the catastrophic error which killed a baby and left another brain damaged at Bankstown Hospital has tonight deepened. We've certainly let them down, we should have done better. But this was no freak accident, this was human error. Turn a pleaded guilty to failing to comply with health and safety duties. And the man at fault was Christopher Turner, a contractor who was paid to install the gas pipes back in 2015. When he finished the job, he lied on official paperwork, claiming he'd tested the oxygen outlets when he hadn't. So with this outlet, there's a screw thread here that specifically sized. You place it on there and then you get oxygen to come out. Pediatric anesthetist, Dr. Justin Scono says doctors and nurses would have absolutely no way of knowing if pipes were fitted with the wrong gas. And that screw thread is designed to prevent you connecting equipment that's not designed for oxygen to this outlet. So the bottom line is, if it says oxygen, you expect oxygen's coming out, right? We're assuming that's oxygen. Those copper pipes are betted into the wall, they come from the tank that says oxygen, and we do have to at some level trust that oxygen is coming out of the port. Christopher Turner was charged with serious workplace health and safety breaches. The extent of the harm caused is almost too awful to contemplate. Four months ago he pleaded guilty, and the judge was scathing. Had he properly carried out tests of no great complexity, these two tragedies could not have happened. Turner was fined $100,000 for his negligence, and all charges against Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital were dropped. Not surprisingly, Amelia's parents were outraged. Does that give you some hope in the justice system or is 100 grand for the life of a baby and the life of Amelia absolutely not good enough? It's not good enough. And I don't know what else to expect because at every turn we've been disappointed. What happened at Bankstown Hospital, Chris, was 100% absolutely avoidable. Mark Buttigieg, a former electrician and now Labour MP, has come to the Khan's rescue. He's fighting to make sure this never happens again. Amelia was tragically given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen shortly after she was born. This week he introduced a bill in the New South Wales Parliament to fix what he calls a fatal flaw in the system to guarantee that those who install medical gas are properly qualified. As we are here, right here today in New South Wales have a license to plumb water, but not medical gas, and that in itself sums up the whole problem. You've got plumbers all around New South Wales at the moment who are unqualified, yet they're plugging up the gases that the doctors rely on to keep people alive. It's worse than that, Chris. You have other people who are not even plumbers doing it because there is no legal requirement for you to have a qualification of any sort. Do you think that staggers the public? Absolutely, but what's more tragic and what's more culpable is the fact that when something's happened and we don't react as legislators to do something about it, that's a crime in itself.
[14:49]This is a very difficult thing to watch. Oh, yeah. No, uh, it's, it's very hard to watch this. Remembering the day Amelia was born is confronting for Benish and Daniel Khan. Instead of capturing what was meant to be their most joyous occasion, they filmed their baby girl being suffocated.
[15:14]And every time we watch it, it just brings back some memory. It makes you feel helpless. But the Khan say they've cried enough tears, and now they want the world to see this video to make sure no other child suffers from the same tragic mistake. I think it is it's just a reminder for us to make sure to fight for Amelia and to make sure to get get the outcome that she deserves. You know, whenever we watch this, we feel even more strongly about making sure that the right people are held accountable for her. We asked the New South Wales government for an interview, but with a stuff up of this magnitude, it's unsurprising no minister wanted to talk to us. Instead, they hid behind this statement, but in it is some good news. The government has now promised to implement changes to ensure only properly licensed contractors can install medical gas. Finally, a win for the Khan family. Life may not be easy for little Amelia.
[16:26]In the simplest of tasks can be tough, but she tries her best.
[16:41]Do you want to tell us how you're feeling right now? She's even learning to communicate in her own way. Are there some moments in your day where you just smile? For sure. Definitely, um yeah, I think just just seeing Amelia smile in itself, it just warms your heart. What's striking about Benish and Daniel Khan is their remarkable strength. After all they've been through, it's hard for them not to be angry, but these impressive young parents don't dwell on it or blame the doctors and nurses who delivered their beautiful baby girl. Something that we've we like to teach Amelia is that although these things happen, we do forgive. And we don't hold grudges with anybody, and we've never have, and that's our only way of healing as a family, because if we still feel that pain, we will never be able to move on and be able to put our care and our attention into Amelia. We've accepted what happened to Amelia, and I can't imagine Amelia in any other way. You know, she's funny, she's strong, she's resilient. And for us, it's about living in the moment. It's about appreciating what, you know, what we have right now, and just enjoying that because we know things can be taken away from us.
[18:07]Hello, I'm Liz Hayes. Thanks for watching. To keep up with the latest from 60 Minutes Australia, make sure you subscribe to our channel. You can also download the 9Now app for full episodes, and exclusive 60 Minutes content.
