A HEARTBROKEN mother had to live alongside her teenager’s corpse covered in a sheet to keep flies away after a medical blunder.
Lianne Roban’s 13-year-old son Kian died at home on Easter Sunday, just a week before his 14th birthday.
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He passed away following a long battle with a type of aggressive bone cancer called Ewing sarcoma.
It took months for the cancer to be diagnosed, with doctors telling his mother the swelling in his face was just a tooth coming through.
She took him to hospital five times in two months as his symptoms escalated – but staff kept sending them home.
The grieving mother told the Mail “[They said] there are people coming in from A&E who need it more than Kian – it’s not life or death.”
When Lianne finally got a doctor to listen, a huge tumour was found in Kian’s cheek and he was rushed to intensive care.
After months of chemotherapy, the family thought he was safe. But last year a scan showed another tumour in Kian’s brain.
Doctors told his devastated mother, 34, they couldn’t remove it safely.
But that wasn’t the end of their trauma, as when Kian died at their home in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, his mother was forced to keep the body in his room.
Lianne covered his corpse in a sheet and surrounded it with fans to try and keep flies away because hospice workers wrongly told her that funeral directors don’t work on Bank Holidays.
She told the Mail: “His room started to get warm. My neighbours, bless them, brought fans to try to keep his body cool.”
His body has now been moved to a funeral home, but paperwork delays mean his death hasn’t been registered yet and staff can’t prepare him to be buried.
Posting on a GoFundMe for her son, Lianne said: “It’s been a week since Kian’s gone. I’m exhausted, we celebrated his birthday yesterday.
“Unfortunately we haven’t been able to register his death and by extension we’ve been unable to put his funeral plans in place, I wanted to give you all more information about his celebration of life, but there is none at the moment.
“The funeral home as well as me and my family have been held at a standstill waiting around for his hospice to forward details to our GP which was only done today after calls from other professionals and my family to move things along, there’s a lot of things that have been happening that have made me upset during and after Kian’s passing that I can’t make sense of but I won’t go too much into it.
“I just want to send him off finally with dignity. I’m hoping now that the GP have Kian’s information we can finally register his death and move things along.”
Earlier, she said: “We held his hand, sang to him and kissed him and told him it was okay to let go and we’ll meet again and he did, he let go.
“My heart has shattered into million pieces, we managed to keep him calm and comfortable up until the evening he passed where he was breathing fast and scared, I never wanted him to be scared.
“When the funeral director came to pick him his face had relaxed and he was smiling, I imagine that’s how he feels…finally at peace.”
A spokesperson for Keech Hospice said: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Kian, and our thoughts are with Ms Roban and her family at this incredibly difficult time.
“The death of a child is one of the most devastating experiences a family can face. We are committed to providing the highest quality, individually tailored care for every child and family we support.
“We support children and their families in decisions around their care and what matters to them most.
“Our children’s service is always open and the hospice is staffed by care professionals at any time. Night or day, every day of the year.
“Families are also given the choice about where their child is cared for after death. At the hospice, we have a special suite where families can spend precious time with their child, regardless of where the death occurred.
“This facility was made available to the Roban family, but their choice was to be at home. A chilled mattress and advice were therefore provided.
“Our team were supporting in the family’s home until the early hours to provide end of life care, and were present at Kian’s sad death. And again, the team were present the next day.
“In relation to other comments made regarding Kian’s care, due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to share specific details. However, we always strive to give the highest quality care.
“We remain committed to supporting all families with compassionate, dignified, and respectful care during the most difficult of times.
“We understand this is a distressing time and we are keen to understand the Roban family’s experiences — their feedback is always valuable to us.”
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The 5 early bone cancer symptoms as 76% of cases are misdiagnosed
By Alice Fuller
According to the Bone Cancer Research Trust (BCRT), the five most common symptoms include:
- Constant or intermittent bone pain, which often gets worse at night
- A lump, swelling or inflammation over the bone
- Problems with mobility, such as stiff joints or reduce movement
- An unexplained limp or reduced range of motion
- Bruising easily
Some patients may also experience tiredness, sweating, a fever, weight loss, loss of muscle tone, and bone fracturing.