Toddler Aarav Chopra died following a routine liver biopsy at Birmingham Children’s hospital when he was supposed to be embarking on a ‘new beginning’ following a transplant
Parents of a three-year-old have been handed an NHS payout after their son died following what should have been routine surgery when his artery was pierced by a doctor.
Aarav Chopra, three, died on November 22, 2023, from a “prolonged” cardiac arrest when a trainee medic punctured his artery, causing a buildup of blood in his chest cavity. The youngster had been suffering from serious liver disease and had undergone a liver transplant months earlier his parents had hoped would be a “new beginning”.
But his body rejected the new organ, and he was sent for testing at Birmingham Children’s hospital, where doctors ordered a liver biopsy, a typically safe, standard procedure that went horrifically awry.
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A trainee doctor nicked a major artery with a needle during the surgery, and Aarav, from Wolverhampton, died of serious brain damage as doctors spent nearly 30 minutes trying to resuscitate him. An inquest into the youngster’s death heard the bleed went “undiagnosed and untreated” as the biopsy was carried out.
Birmingham’s Senior Coroner, Louise Hunt, also blasted “poor planning” by staff before the procedure, saying in her report that there was “poor” communication about the bleed Aarav suffered, “all of which hampered treatment after his collapse”.
The coroner noted there was “confusion around the experience of the trainee doctor performing the biopsy”. The trainee was thought to be a year six, but it was later found out he was only in year four of his training, the inquest heard. Aarav’s parents weren’t told a trainee would be performing the biopsy on their son.
Following the inquest, his parents Kishore and Amrita instructed solicitors Irwin Mitchell to investigate Aarav’s care. Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust have now admitted liability and paid an undisclosed pay-out to the family.
It stated there “was a failure to adequately manage” Aarav’s condition once the build-up of blood was recognised. With “appropriate care”, Aarav’s cardiac arrest and death “would have been avoided” on the balance on probabilities, the Trust said. In a letter to the couple, the Trust apologised, saying there were “failings in our care that contributed to Aarav’s death.”
Kishore, 38, said: “Aarav was the most adorable little boy and despite everything he went through with his transplant was always smiling and happy.”
“He brought sunshine to our lives, and the world is a much darker place without him. We hoped his transplant would be a new start in life for Aarav. It remains difficult to accept that he went into hospital for what we thought would be a relatively routine biopsy and never came home.”
The couple say their grief was made worse by the Trust’s treatment of them as they tried to find out what had gone wrong. Kishore added: “After our son’s death, we struggled to obtain even the most basic answers.
“The whole process was complex and overwhelming and when Birmingham Children’s Hospital eventually responded, we felt there was still no accountability from them. It was only when we pushed for an independent external review and endured the distress of an inquest that the circumstances finally began to become clearer.
“I cannot explain in words how it feels to be put in this situation as a bereaved parent.” Amrita, 36, said she wanted other hospital trusts to “reflect on how they support and listen to grieving families.”
She added: “I don’t think we’ll ever get over losing Aarav especially in the way we did. The last few years and how Aarav should be at home with us and causing mischief with his little brother has almost broken us. No parent should have to suffer the loss of a child but to then feel like you’re not being listened to when raising concerns just adds to the hurt and pain.”
Aarav had a condition called biliary atresia – which meant the flow of bile out of his liver was blocked. He underwent a liver transplant on August 15, 2023 but he suffered complications and was prescribed antiplatelet medication to prevent blood clots.
After Aarav’s body started rejecting the liver, he was admitted to hospital on November 20, 2023, for a biopsy the following day. His antiplatelet medication should have been stopped a week before the biopsy, but this wasn’t done, the inquest heard. At the start of the procedure a trainee doctor inserted a needle through Aarav’s rib muscles, the coroner’s report said.
Medics didn’t realise at the time that the needle “did not follow the correct pathway” and pierced Aarav’s artery. Aarav went into cardiac arrest around an hour later but despite having surgery to repair his torn artery, he died the next day.
In a letter sent to Aarav’s parents, Matthew Boazman and Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, the Trust’s chief executive officer and chair, said: “Whilst no words will ever be adequate given your profound loss, we want to express our deep sorrow for the failings in our care that contributed to Aarav’s death.” The letter added that the Trust “fully accept” the coroner’s conclusion and had “admitted liability in full” in the civil case.
