In an earlier version of this case, the Hedmarken emergency room was not given the opportunity to respond to the family’s allegations. It has been added after the case was first published. – When he watched cartoons, he understood what he saw. It made him both laugh and cry. Tetiana Sorokina talks about her son Mark. He was only ten years old. She and Mark fled from Kyiv in Ukraine to Norway a few days after the Russian invasion. While they were waiting to be settled in a municipality, they were placed at Ringsaker reception centre, with three older siblings. Mark had Hunter’s syndrome. He was mentally disabled, lacked language and had several health problems. Repeatedly asked for help Because of Mark’s health situation, the mother says that ever since they arrived in Norway, she has said that her son needed more help than he got. Hunter’s syndrome is a congenital disease, which affects several organs in the body. Children with the disease need tailored treatment. According to the mother, it has taken a long time to get an appointment with a doctor and they have not received the help they needed. They have also requested an appointment with a geneticist and a psychiatrist. It hasn’t happened. Tetyana Sorikina Photo: Knut Are Tornås On Thursday 21 July things suddenly became more dramatic. The ambulance left without the boy. Mora noticed that Mark had severe pain in his stomach and was trying to vomit. An ambulance was called and eventually arrived at the asylum reception at Ringerike. According to the mother, it took 40 minutes before the ambulance arrived. The entrance to the apartment where Mark and his family lived at Ringsaker reception center Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news Health personnel took samples from Mark, who according to his mother had both high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels. He was also looked after by the emergency room doctor. – I said that his blood sugar was very high, but they said: “It is not dangerous, he has only eaten recently”, according to Sorokina. Mora asked the ambulance to stay to see how Mark was doing. Which they also did. But, after an hour they left. Without the 10-year-old. One of two bedrooms in the apartment at Ringsaker emergency department Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news The next day, the boy’s pain was even worse and the reception called for an ambulance again. Again, according to the mother, it took around 40 minutes for the ambulance to arrive at the reception. This time Mark was taken to Hamar hospital. There they determined that he had to proceed to Ullevål hospital by ambulance helicopter. He never got that far. The head of the emergency department at Hedmarken emergency department, Bent Håkon Lindberg, responds to the mother’s story as follows: – It is deeply tragic that the boy died, and it has affected all the health personnel involved at us. Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family. The National Health Service has been notified, and we will of course help them map out the entire sequence of events, including our role. We await your assessment. Archive: Hamar hospital Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB scanpi The Innlandet Hospital, which is also responsible for the ambulance service, does not respond concretely to the allegations from the mother, but writes this in a reply: – The incident has been notified to the National Health Inspectorate in line with practice in such cases, and we understand the relatives’ reactions. Innlandet Hospital will contribute to clarifying and elucidate the actual circumstances surrounding the incident and will send the requested documentation to the supervisory authorities. The matter will be assessed by the Norwegian Health Authority and Sykehuset Innlandet has no further information to give until these investigations have been completed. “A notified death” Like several other Ukrainian families with children with disabilities, they had not yet been settled in a municipality. Even if they have been granted residency in Norway, Care worker Stine Myking works with the disabled. She has committed herself to the cause of the Ukrainian refugees and already in April she told news that this group is not well enough looked after in Norway: – They need the necessary health care and follow-up. Because if they don’t get it quickly, it can have quite serious consequences later. Stine Myking has committed herself to the disabled refugees from Ukraine Today she is disappointed and believes that the children have not been followed up well enough: – This is what I feared in April. Emergency doctor for vulnerable refugees Ringsaker municipality is responsible for ensuring that Mark receives good health services. Sverre Rudjord is responsible for the health and care services in the municipality: Municipal manager for health and care in Ringsaker municipality, Sverre Rudjord Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news – It is deeply tragic when a child dies acutely and I fully understand that the family wants answers on whether the health authorities concerned could have done something differently. My deepest condolences to the family. There are many bodies that have been involved in relation to the acute and serious incident and it is natural that the Norwegian Health Inspectorate will investigate the matter thoroughly. We will assist the Norwegian Health Authority with the information we have so that Ringsaker Municipality’s role in the case is sufficiently illuminated. Believes the death could have been avoided Lawyer Brynjar Meling has also become involved in the case and believes there is reason to believe that the death could have been avoided: Brynjar Meling has become involved in the case. He believes it is objectionable that Norway, despite repeated warnings from his mother, failed to take better care of Mark. Photo: Knut Are Tornås – That’s the impression you get when you know that this is a family who, ever since they arrived in Norway in April, have tried to get help, have tried to get supervision and follow-up. And not only did it directly myself, but also via private helpers who have got involved on behalf of the family. He will not yet point out who he believes has failed in the case. Ole Valen is regional manager at Hero Norge, with responsibility for the asylum center where Mark lived. He says the boy was placed in a regular ward when the family arrived at Easter. Reception quickly concluded that he should be transferred to a department with more facilitation and recommended this to UDI. Regional manager of HERO, Ole Valen A survey of his needs was carried out and, according to Valen, the family received a lot of help. However, an individual plan was not drawn up for Mark and he was not transferred to an adapted department either. Regional Director of UDI Siv Kjelstrup confirms that Mark was not placed in an adapted department: Siv Kjelstrup, Regional Director UDI Photo: Nora Lie / Nora Lie – He was placed at Ringsaker precisely because they have 24-hour staffing through the adapted department and because they have expertise and resources available around the clock. So the idea was that the family would then get help when they needed it. But he wasn’t placed in the adapted department at that reception, was he? – However, he received good help even though he was not enrolled in the appropriate department. One of the things you get in an adapted ward is to get a personal plan for the residents. Mark didn’t get it. Why not? – Contact had been started with the municipality to get him into school and to get a wider range of help, so through that contact an individual plan was to be established. They came to the reception at Easter and when he died at the end of July the plan was not yet ready. That is right? – Yes, there was no individual plan at the end of July. The police have started an investigation into the case, which is routine when a child dies unexpectedly. They are still working to gather information and have not reached a conclusion in the case. The Norwegian Health Authority has notified local supervision of the reception, to survey what has happened and to survey whether anything can be done to avoid similar cases. The cause of death In the helicopter on the way to Ullevål, Mark’s body couldn’t take it anymore. The heart stopped and attempts to restart it were unsuccessful. – I remember twice, but otherwise I don’t remember anything. I just screamed, says mother. She has yet to receive the autopsy report, but was told that her boy died because he had a hole in his stomach and contracted blood poisoning. On Thursday 28 July, Mark was cremated in Oslo. The hope is that the urn with his ashes can be sent back to Ukraine. And that the family can have a grave to go to, in their homeland. Mora is devastated after her son’s death and tells her story in the hope that others in the same situation will get better – We tried to tell about Mark’s medical needs from the moment we arrived in Norway, but were not heard. There are more refugees with special needs who need better follow-up. Mark (10) at the reception in Ringsaker
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