The mother of a boy with autism and epilepsy who drowned in a bath after he was left unsupervised opens up on her fight for justice in a new book.
Sara Ryan’s book tells of her son Connor Sparrowhawk’s premature death and her fight to discover the truth.
Sara Ryan: she wants her book to open people’s eyes to the impoverished care people with learning disabilities typically receive
Eighteen-year-old Connor, also known as Laughing Boy or LB, was found dead in NHS unit Slade House, in Oxfordshire, in July 2013.
Campaign for justice
Ryan’s book, Justice for Laughing Boy, covers how she and others started the #JusticeforLB campaign over her son’s death.
The campaign became a focal point for many other injustices learning disabled adults experience.
Ryan said she wants the book to “open people’s eyes to the humanity of learning disabled people” and lead to “action around the continuing impoverished care and treatment people typically receive”.
The campaign that followed Connor’s death led to the Mazars report. It concluded that Southern Health, which ran Slade House, failed to properly investigate the deaths of more than 1,000 patients with learning disabilities or mental health problems over four years.
Series of failings
Psychiatrist Dr Valerie Murphy admitted a series of failings over Connor’s death at a tribunal. It included failing to carry out any risk assessments.
But Ryan said she felt “re-traumatised” following the investigation by the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service (MPTS).
Murphy’s defence barrister Richard Partridge repeatedly questioned Oxford University academic Ryan on what she told nurses about Connor when Slade House admitted him. She maintains the lawyer implied that she should have told staff they needed to watch her son in the bath.
Ryan told The Guardian newspaper that the tribunal was a “barbaric process”.
The MPTS says it offers a support service to all witnesses.
Justice for Laughing Boy is due out on 21 October, at £12.99/$18.95. The publisher is Jessica Kingsley.
Related:
- Connor Sparrowhawk doctor still at work
- First step in justice for Connor?
- Percy’s former role not advertised
- Percy shunted out of £190k post
- Medical staff still lack autism training
- Adults fear death in poor healthcare
- No trust in Southern Health NHS Trust
- Spotlight on hospital care
- New NHS guidelines shift care provision
Published: 6 September 2017
