Parents 'accused of abusing baby' before 'bowed head' doctor delivered leukaemia diagnosis
22.03.2023 - 14:51
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A mum claims she was accused of abusing her baby after he developed mysterious bruises before a blood test later confirmed he had leukaemia. Beth Reilly, 23, became worried when her son Bailey Kilbane, now 16 months old, started coming out in unexplained bruises and flu-like symptoms last October.
The young mum said Bailey appeared "happy and smiley" but she instinctively knew that something was not right with his health, the Liverpool ECHO reports. Beth and her partner, Brandon, also 23, took their son to the doctors after bruises began appearing on his legs which didn't heal for over three weeks.
However, GPs and hospital doctors insisted that there was nothing wrong with little Bailey but Beth was not so convinced and requested further tests. The mum claims that while she was at Arrowe Park, medics asked if she was abusing her son.
The mum was left horrified by the question, but the hospital told her it is standard procedure to ensure the safety of the patients in its care. Beth said: "If you're worried, you need to press them to get tests done. I still often think back to the experience and it was horrible to be questioned about abusing your own child - but I know that they needed to do it.
"It made me feel bad and uncomfortable, but I knew that I had done nothing to harm him - so I'm happy I went through with it. What abusive mother would take her child to the hospital six times in a week anyway?"
After a blood test, Bailey was later sadly diagnosed with leukaemia. Although the tot is still happy, his mum says it's clear he has been "knocked" by the illness, as he is often tired and struggles to eat, so is mostly fed through a tube.
Beth first noticed something was wrong with her baby when he suddenly became very