Yusuf Nazir: Boy, 5, who died after being sent home from hospital was ‘inhumanely treated’ and ‘gasping for breath’, say witnesses
A five-year-old boy, who died a week after he was sent home from an emergency department, was treated “inhumanely” and was “left gasping for breath”, according to witnesses in the hospital waiting room.
The claims over his alleged mistreatment were made to Sky News by two separate and unrelated women who saw Yusuf Nazir cradled in his mother’s arms at Rotherham Hospital just eight days before he died.
On Tuesday, Yusuf’s family met Health Secretary Victoria Atkins and said she told them she will ask NHS chief Amanda Pritchard to look at the case.
Yusuf’s mother Soniya and uncle Zaheer Ahmed spent over an hour with Ms Atkins sharing their concerns about a 2023 report into his death.
After the meeting, Mr Ahmed said: “We’re very happy with the way the meeting went, we could see progression coming our way and this is all we wanted, we want to get another report issued and get the truth out.”
Zaheer Ahmed, the uncle of Yusuf Nazir
Yusuf died on 23 November 2022 – eight days after he was seen at Rotherham Hospital and sent home with antibiotics.
A report into Yusuf’s NHS case published last year found his care was appropriate and “an admission was not clinically required” but this has been rejected by his family.
Mr Ahmed insists they were told “there are no beds and not enough doctors” and complained that Yusuf should have been admitted and given intravenous antibiotics in Rotherham to save his life.
‘Is there anyone who can help?’
Two independent and unrelated witnesses have spoken to Sky News to express their concerns about Yusuf’s care.
Both were in the emergency department at the same time as Yusuf and his mother.
One described the situation as “scary” and the other said it was a “truly horrific night”.
Jade Cousins sat opposite Yusuf as he lay cradled in his mother’s arms.
She said he was “gasping for breath” and she was not listened to when she urged medical staff to intervene.
Ms Cousins said: “I said to the nurse, ‘there’s a lady and there’s a little boy who’s really struggling to breathe. He’s gasping. Is there anyone that can come and help?’ and she just basically said, ‘If his mom’s concerned, then she needs to bring him to us herself’.”
“She was only a small lady herself. So picking up a boy who was practically just floppy would have been too much,” Ms Cousins added.
‘Inhumane treatment’ on ‘truly horrific night’
A second witness, who wants to stay anonymous, described Yusuf’s “inhumane treatment” on a “truly horrific” night.
She said: “I was in the waiting room before Yusuf arrived and it was clear as soon as he entered that he was very unwell.
“After waiting a few hours it was very clear that his condition was getting worse, and he was gasping for his breath.”
She added: “Yusuf’s mum spoke to the receptionist to ask for help, to be told that, ‘I can hear he is making a snoring noise’.
“He was not snoring, he was gasping for his breath. Even my child who was nine at the time replied, ‘That isn’t snoring’.”
“The events of the night were truly horrific, my child and I spoke about it to family and friends as it had stuck in our mind so much.
“I couldn’t believe that a child and family could be treated in such an inhumane manner.”
‘Report missed evidence’
Mr Ahmed said the NHS report published in October last year missed out on a range of evidence.
“An honest, fair investigation by a completely independent body. That’s what we’re wanting,” he said.
The report set out how Yusuf, who had asthma, was taken to the GP with a sore throat on 15 November.
Later that evening, his parents took him to Rotherham Hospital Urgent and Emergency Care Centre (UECC) where he was seen after a six-hour wait.
Yusuf was discharged with a diagnosis of severe tonsillitis and an extended prescription of antibiotics, the report said.
Two days later, Yusuf was given further antibiotics by his GP for a possible chest infection, but his family became so concerned they called an ambulance and insisted the paramedics take him to Sheffield Children’s Hospital rather than Rotherham.
Yusuf was admitted to the intensive care unit on 21 November but developed multi-organ failure and suffered several cardiac arrests which he did not survive.
NHS trust: ‘Nothing could have been done differently’
Dr Jo Beahan, medical director at the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We were all deeply saddened by the tragic circumstances surrounding Yusuf’s death.
“It is something no parent wants to go through, and our sympathies remain with Yusuf’s family.
“Given the concerns raised by Yusuf’s family at the time, an independent investigation was commissioned by the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.
“The trust fully cooperated with the investigation and accepted the recommendations made within the report, which was published in October 2023.
“The independent investigation found that, sadly, there was nothing that could have been done differently that would have saved Yusuf’s life.”
Dr Beahan added: “The trust’s urgent and emergency care centre, as with emergency departments across the country, is a very busy environment, especially during the winter months.
“November 2022 was a particularly busy period for the urgent and emergency care centre at the trust. Yusuf was monitored during the period he waited to see a doctor.
“The CCTV footage of the period in the waiting room was considered by the investigators in the independent report.
“Yusuf was then seen by a very experienced doctor on the morning of 16 November and was given an increased dose of antibiotics.
“If an admission had been considered necessary at that point, Yusuf would have been admitted to the children’s ward.”
Victims of child sexual exploitation are “not explicitly within the scope” of the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy being drafted by the government, Sky News can reveal.
Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSEA) is a form of child abuse, described by police as a “critical threat” to women and girls.
It includes crimes such as grooming, and can involve both physical contact, such as rape, or non-physical – like forcing children to look at sexual images.
Sky News has been shown an internal Home Office document presented to various stakeholders in the sector.
Screenshot detailing strategy
It’s titled “Scope of the Strategy… Our draft definition of VAWG”, and says that while it recognises “links” between VAWG and child sexual exploitation, it is not “explicitly within the scope of the strategy”.
“VAWG is Violence Against Women and Girls. If you take child sexual abuse out of it, where are the girls?” Poppy Eyre told Sky News.
Poppy was sexually abused and raped by her grandfather when she was four.
It wasn’t until she was 11, after a PHSE lesson on abuse at school, that she understood the enormity of what had happened.
“I remember very vividly when the police came round and told me… this is what we’re charging him with,” said Poppy.
“We’re charging him with sexual abuse and rape. And I remember being like, I had no idea that’s what it was, but I know that’s really bad.”
Poppy Eyre was sexually abused and raped by her grandfather when she was four
Poppy’s grandfather was convicted and died in prison.
She questions how authorities would police crime if child sexual abuse is excluded from an umbrella strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
“Are they holding child sexual abuse at the same level of importance as they are with violence against women? You’d hope so, but potentially not, because it doesn’t need to be in the figures”, she said.
‘Are they holding child sexual abuse at the same level of importance?’ asks Poppy
The government has pledged to halve VAWG within a decade, by 2035.
“If the government are measuring themselves against halving violence against women and girls – if they’re not looking at the scale of child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation within that – that will mean we are failing many young victims of abuse,” said Andrea Simon, director of campaign group End Violence Against Women.
The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, which is funded by the Home Office, estimates 500,000 children in England and Wales are sexually abused every year.
‘Danger’ of having separate plan
Rape Crisis told Sky News that “for any strategy to be effective” it “must include all forms of gender-based violence against all women and girls”, suggesting there is a “danger” in having a separate plan for child sexual abuse.
Its chief executive, Ciara Bergman, said it could create a “problematic and potentially very unhelpful” distinction between victims of domestic abuse, expected to be covered by the strategy, and child sexual abuse.
“Some perpetrators of domestic abuse also sexually abuse their children,” she told Sky News.
The government insists the strategy will include action to tackle child sexual abuse, but says it also plans to create a distinctive programme to address its specific crimes.
Poppy’s mother Miranda Eyre says she’s ‘speechless’ and ‘angry’ over the government’s approach
“Sexual abuse is violence against a child,” said Poppy’s mother, Miranda Eyre, who now works as a counsellor specialising in trauma.
“It is violence against girls… and you can’t separate it out,” she said. “I’m speechless to be honest… it does make me quite angry.”
Read more from Sky News:
Family hail inquest into death of boy sent home from A&E
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A Home Office spokesperson told Sky News it is “working tirelessly to tackle the scourges of violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse”.
“These issues are complex and run deep within the fabric of society,” they added.
“The government wholly recognises that they overlap. But it also recognises that concerted action is needed to tackle child sexual abuse which is why we have set out a range of actions… and why we are launching a national inquiry into grooming gangs.”
A British veteran has spoken about how he witnessed Japan’s wartime surrender up close as a 20-year-old sailor.
Reg Draper was off Japan’s coast on the HMS Duke of York when the captain announced the war was ending.
Recalling that moment – 80 years ago today – he said cheers went up from the battleship’s crew.
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Why is it important to mark VJ Day?
Mr Draper saw the Japanese sign the agreement on USS Missouri when he went on board to help his friend, who was the ship’s photographer.
“All the ships mustered in Tokyo Bay with the USS Missouri, which was the American ship, and it was on the Missouri where they signed the peace treaty,” the 100-year-old recalled.
“Then we all came back down to Australia and we went and celebrated – we went down to Tasmania and everybody had four days leave in Hobart.
“Everybody wanted to take us to their home and there were a couple of dances in the dance hall.”
Mr Draper still has a photo showing the peace deal being signed. Pic: Royal British Legion/PA
Mr Draper got a letter recognising his presence at the surrender. Pic: Royal British Legion/PA
Mr Draper, who grew up in Leeds, was a stores assistant on the Duke of York after volunteering on his 18th birthday.
His duties included rationing out the rum so all the sailors could get their 11am hit. He said senior crew got theirs neat while everyone else had theirs watered down.
He also recalled being clattered by Prince Philip after the Queen’s future husband, who was on a destroyer escorting his ship, came aboard.
A view looking out over the HMS Duke of York. Pic: AP
Mr Draper met Prince Philip again in the 70s – but the hockey wasn’t mentioned. Pic: Royal British Legion/PA
“We used to have deck hockey on the quarter deck and it was murder playing deck hockey,” said Mr Draper.
“He [Philip] knocked me over once and then the next time he came round he hit me, there’s still a mark there, he gave me a clout with his hockey stick.
“He came to see me just to see how I was. They just put a stitch in and it was alright.”
The pair met again in 1972 when Mr Draper was training sea cadets for the Duke of Edinburgh awards.
He said Philip noticed his medals and recalled escorting the ship – but didn’t mention the hockey game.
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Hiroshima survivor describes moment of blast
Mr Draper’s time on the Duke of York included Arctic convoys to deliver supplies to Russia and sailing to Sydney, Australia, in 1945 before joining the East Indies Fleet.
“We started going up to the islands, kicking the Japanese out of the islands as we went,” he recalled.
Japan surrendered after the US dropped two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on 6 and 9 August.
Read more:
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Mr Draper now lives in Elton in Cheshire. Pic: PA
Mr Draper turned 21 on the trip back to Europe and said 2,000 people were on board as they had picked up prisoners of war.
He went on to become an insurance salesman and said he’s planning to watch today’s 80th anniversary commemorations from his home in Elton, Cheshire.
The King released an audio message in which he said the sacrifices of VJ Day veterans should “never be forgotten”.
He described how the heroic actions of those sent to fight in the Far East, as well as the brutal treatment of civilians, “reminds us that war’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life”.
The King will issue a warning that the sacrifices of the VJ Day veterans should “never be forgotten” as they “gave us more than freedom; they left us the example of how it can and must be protected”.
In an audio message, due to be released on Friday morning to mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War in the Far East, King Charles will describe how the heroic actions of those sent to fight there and the brutal treatment of civilians “reminds us that war’s true cost extends beyond battlefields, touching every aspect of life”.
In what could be interpreted as him alluding to current world events and conflicts, he will emphasise the importance of international collaboration, saying that victory in 1945 demonstrated that “in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear but the arms you link”.
Pic: PA
The six-minute audio message to the Nation, Realms and Commonwealth to mark VJ Day, echoes the audio broadcast made by his grandfather, King George VI, which the King will reference.
He recorded it in the Morning Room at Clarence House earlier this month.
Victory over Japan (VJ Day) was declared on 15 August 1945, following Imperial Japan’s surrender to Allied Forces.
With Victory in Europe (VE Day) declared in May 1945, some have felt that historically VJ Day has been overlooked, undervaluing the sacrifices of those who continued to fight on for another three months.
In his message, the King will say that the service and sacrifice of those who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East “shall never be forgotten”.
He will also refer to the experience endured by prisoners of war and to the innocent civilians of occupied lands in the region.
Read more:
UK veteran, 100, recalls witnessing Japan’s Second World War surrender
Survivors’ relatives pledge to make Nagasaki last ever atomic bomb site
My grandmother survived world’s deadliest air raid
King Charles and Queen Camilla will also publicly mark the anniversary by attending a national service of remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
The service, run in partnership with the Royal British Legion, will be attended by Burma Star recipients, a veteran of the British Indian Army and those involved in the Battles of Kohima and Imphal.
Prisoners of war held across the region and veterans stationed in the UK or Commonwealth countries who contributed to the war effort will also attend. A two-minute national silence will be held at midday.
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