A Black Country boy received £8 million compensation in a High Court settlement yesterday for failures by medical staff during his birth that left him severely disabled.

Owen Johnson was deprived of air for 17 minutes after midwives and nurses at Wordsley Hospital, in Dudley, failed to spot signs of distress in foetal monitoring hours before he was born on April 18, 1999.

Although the nine-year-old is now thriving in a mainstream school, Sledmere Primary School in Dudley, he will need specialist care and support for the rest of his life.

Owen’s mother Sally Johnson “sensed” something was not right after nearly 12 hours in labour even though this was her first baby, but all the 34-year-old heard from the midwife -led team was “you’re doing great, everything’s fine”.

But when, at 10.25pm, a nurse handed Mrs Johnson her newborn son, she wondered why he wasn’t crying.

“I asked why he wasn’t crying and then they took Owen from me and tried to resuscitate him, then he was taken to the special care baby unit. I didn’t see him until four hours later,” she said.

“All I was told was that he was ‘very, very poorly’ and the next 48 hours would be critical, but nothing prepared me for what I saw.

“It was like it was happening to somebody else because my beautiful boy was full of tubes and hooked up to machines, it was awful.

“I felt terrible, here was my first child fighting for his life and I really thought it was my fault, that I’d done something wrong. But a year later, when we went to see the consultant at Wordsley, he just told us ‘Sometimes we don’t have answers for questions’.

“That’s when something inside told me to fight as I realised something must have gone wrong.”

After a five-year campaign by Owen’s parents and Birmingham-based law firm Irwin Mitchell, Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust accepted last August, that they were at fault and that during Mrs Johnson’s labour an obstetrician was not called to examine an abnormal CTG trace indicating foetal distress.

Midwives continued to try and manage the delivery themselves, and as a result Owen sustained brain damage at birth due to a period of near total asphyxia.

Independent medical experts said if he was born 17 minutes earlier, at 10.08pm, Owen would not have suffered any brain damage. He was diagnosed with choreoathetoid cerebral palsy in 2000.

“When we finally found out Owen had spastic cerebral palsy it was a turning point. Before that I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t sit up properly or feed himself, and I’d get frustrated with him, but now I know it’s the damage to his brain and not his fault,” added Mrs Johnson.

“We’ve waited nine years for a simple letter of apology but even after admitting liability the trust still haven’t said they’re sorry for what happened.”
Paul Farenden, the trust’s chief executive, said in a statement: “We are pleased that the High Court has approved the settlement agreed between the parties.

“The trust wishes Owen and his family all the very best for the future.”

Following his diagnosis Owen attended the Foundation for Conductive Education, in Birmingham - funded by annual grants issued by Caudwell Children - and now he has “blossomed” into a confident, cheeky boy.

“Everyone loves Owen at Sledmere, he’s definitely top dog there. He was so shy before but now he’s in the final of the school’s Sledmere’s Got Talent competition, he’s really come on leaps and bounds,” added his proud mother.

“He’s a really determined little boy and is never satisfied just sitting around. He has an enquiring mind and loves visiting museums, going to the park, playing on his computer or listening to music just like any other nine year old boy.

“But the fact that he wants to be doing things has meant he needs more help and support as he has grown older, rather than less.”

Mrs Johnson, who plans to buy a specially adapted house to meet her son’s needs, admits the payout will make a difference financially but their lives were changed the minute Owen was born.

“Yes £8 million means he can have a nice house, all his car and proper transport,” she said.

“But I’m the one watching over him scared he’ll cut himself trying to slice cheese or have any kind of accident, in a way we’ve both been robbed of our lives.

“The hospital screwed up big time so I don’t see why I shouldn’t speak out about what they did wrong.

“If I’d received better care he would have been born without the problems that limit so much of what he is able to do.”

Mandy Luckman, a medical negligence specialist at Irwin Mitchell, who represented the family, said: “Owen has suffered significant disabilities as a consequence of the failures of the trust.

“Thanks largely to both Owen and Sally’s personal determination and the hard work of staff at both the Foundation for Conductive Education and Sledmere Primary School, he has amazed the medical experts who predicted he would never be able to walk.

“However, we need to balance the progress he has made with the fact that, he will need 24 hour care and support for the rest of his life.”