Daughter's death spurs family to seek legislation

Bonnie Atkins never wants a parent to experience what she did.

On May 26, 2011, she took her 14-year-old daughter Christina to the emergency room at Beebe Medical Center. Two days later, Christina died at A.I. duPont Hospital in Wilmington.

"It was horrifying and I can't imagine how it was for her," Atkins said.

Christina, a freshman at Cape Henlopen High School, had been previously treated for a urinary tract infection by her doctor and had returned to school after a short absence. She was feverish and lethargic when the school nurse called Atkins to let her know something was wrong. Atkins said she took Christina straight to the emergency room at Beebe Medical Center where a nurse asked for a urine sample and escorted Christina to the restroom.

"I had a bad feeling," Atkins said. "It was just a mess when she went into the bathroom."

Though Christina walked into the restroom on her own, once inside the locked space she went into respiratory arrest, Atkins said.

Atkins, a nurse with Christiana Hospital VNA, said she could hear her daughter struggle to breathe but no one could find a master key to the bathroom. There was no key at the nurses' station or anywhere on the floor. When an arriving maintenance man could not open the door, Atkins said, she began to panic.

"They had to subdue me in another room. I started yelling for people to call 911 in the hospital. I couldn't believe I had to do that there," she said.

Ten minutes passed before a security guard opened the bathroom door, according to a lawsuit recently filed by Atkins and her family on behalf of Christina.

"When they opened the door, I knew she was gone," she said. "She looked right through me."

Christina was flown to A.I. duPont Hospital where she died two days later.

The cause of death was respiratory failure with sepsis and possibly toxic shock syndrome as contributing factors.

"There was indication of toxic shock syndrome," said James Hall, attorney for the Atkins family, who filed the lawsuit Sept. 4 in Sussex Superior Court.

Jeffrey Fried, president and CEO of Beebe Medical Center, expressed sympathy for Christina's tragedy, and for the recent death of Melvin Dillard Jr. who died of a heart attack while in the emergency room waiting area in June. He was discharged despite signs that he was suffering a heart attack; rigor mortis had set in when his body was found the next day, according to a civil lawsuit against Beebe Medical Center filed by Dillard's family on Sept. 10.

"We feel a great sense of loss over these tragic events and grieve with the families," he said. "We have learned from the unfortunate experiences and remain focused on our efforts to continually improve our processes and efforts and provide the best medical care to our patients."

Atkins said she has missed her daughter ever since her tragic death. Through the lawsuit, the family hopes to keep Christina's name alive.

"We don't want our daughter's death ignored," she said.

Atkins, her husband, Eddie, and the couple's other children have put together Keys for Christina – a campaign working to pass legislation that would require hospitals to install two-way doors, magnetic keys and other measures to prevent a tragedy such as her family experienced from happening again.

"It happened and it's something we never thought could happen," she said. "She had collapsed and we couldn't get the door open."

Fried said the hospital has made improvements to prevent future tragedies.

"We have thoroughly investigated and analyzed these events, identifying opportunities to improve internal processes. We have implemented actions to prevent similar events from happening again at Beebe Medical Center," he said. "After the locked bathroom event occurred last year, we alerted other
hospitals about our experience to help them avoid any similar experiences occurring at their facilities."

Atkins and her family are seeking compensation from Beebe Medical Center for pain and suffering Christina experienced, their own emotional pain and anguish, and funeral, medical and court costs.

Atkins said she thanks the Cape community for everything they've done since Christina's passing. About 160 students attended a dance held in May to celebrate Christina's life, and more than 900 attended her funeral, Atkins said.

Before attending Cape high school, Christina went to Mariner Middle where she was a straight A student and a cheerleader.

"Her teachers loved her," Atkins said.

Though the pain of losing Christina will never go away, Atkins said focusing on the Keys for Christina campaign for patient access safety has brought her some relief.

"This week, a little bit of weight has been lifted," she said.

For more information, go to keysforchristina.com.