A daughter's seven-year battle in a vegetative state after childbirth, a heartfelt plea from her parents
A tragic story has emerged from parents pleading to save their daughter, who has been in a vegetative state for the past seven years since giving birth.
On the 19th, a report from JTBC’s 'Incident Control Room' shared the story of A, which touched the hearts of many viewers.
A's daughter got married at 26 after dating her boyfriend for eight years following her college graduation and gave birth to her first child. However, the joyous moment was short-lived.
On the morning of the delivery, A received an urgent message from her son-in-law stating, “My wife is in danger. Tonight is critical.”
Although A's daughter gave birth via cesarean section, she began to experience breathing difficulties and discomfort. However, the medical staff merely responded with basic advice: “Drink plenty of water and do some exercise,” and appropriate treatment was not administered. “Drink plenty of water and do some exercise.”
While her son-in-law stayed by her side throughout the night, A's daughter displayed signs of cyanosis and lost consciousness. She was subsequently transferred to a larger hospital, but by then, brain damage had progressed, leaving her in a vegetative state.
Challenges in acquiring medical records and CCTV footage, a protracted courtroom battle spanning seven years
Following the incident, A's family requested CCTV and medical records from the hospital, but the hospital responded, “We have no responsibility. The CCTV has been deleted.”
A claimed that the CCTV footage had been deleted just five days after the incident, and only information favorable to the hospital remained in the medical records.
The subsequent legal battle, compounded by the COVID-19 situation, led to a lengthy seven-year struggle with the hospital. During this time, the grandson, who had to grow up without his mother, also suffered significant emotional impacts.
The grandson regarded his grandmother as a mother figure and eventually realized that his grandmother was not his real mother. He displayed fear of his grandmother going out, saying, “If there’s an accident, she turns into a mom.”
To support the family, A and her husband had to take on various jobs, including taxi driving, security work, cooking in restaurants, and distributing flyers.
A's recollection of visiting the hospital, where her daughter in a vegetative state cried upon hearing her grandson's voice, further deepened the listeners' sorrow.
The son-in-law works nearly 20 hours a day to manage monthly hospital and nursing bills ranging from 3 to 4 million won, but eventually ran out of savings and had to take out loans. What is even more heartbreaking is the loss in the medical lawsuit, which burdened them with all legal costs.
Monthly hospital and nursing expenses range from 3 to 4 million won.
A expressed deep anger, stating, “The legal costs include my grandson as well. I have given up holding my daughter accountable, but I cannot accept that my six-year-old grandson has to bear this burden.”
Lawyers Park Ji-hoon from Law Firm Didimdol and Yang Ji-yeol from Law Firm Able explained, “It is a principle that only the parties involved in the lawsuit should bear the legal costs,” adding, “It seems that A's daughter, who is in the hospital, is listed as a plaintiff, and the grandson is also included as a plaintiff because he has suffered emotional distress from his mother’s injury.”
Professor Park Sang-hee from the Department of Counseling Psychology at Korea Open Cyber University stated, “It seems that the entire family is in a state of burnout,” and reflected, “Even if they win the trial, it makes you think about whether it implies that the hospital did nothing wrong. It would be nice if the state and society could provide support in such cases.”
YouTube 'Incident Control Room'
Image source: Reference images to aid understanding of the article / gettyimagesbank
