Mother Arrested After ‘Pouring Bleach Down Premature Baby’s Feeding Tubes’
26-year-old Brooke Evelyn Lucas was accused of trying to kill her son
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A mother has been arrested and charged after allegedly pouring bleach down her premature soon's feeding tubes in a cruel bid to kill him, according to reports.
26-year-old Brooke Evelyn Lucas was accused of trying to kill her son, baby William, who was born with Pierre Robin sequence, a rare condition in which the infant has a smaller than usual lower jaw (micrognathia), a tongue that is placed further back than average.
Lucas was arrested after she purportedly poured bleach down her critically ill son’s feeding tubes to kill him.
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The condition means the child, who was already born 14 weeks premature, require continuous care and a tube to eat and breathe to survive.
The young mum was arrested and charged with unlawful intent to kill or endanger human life, according to police in Perth, Australia.
Authorities believe Lucas poured bleach down her son's tubes on December 29, just under a week after he was discharged from the hospital, 9News Australia reported.
A Facebook post from Lucas said:
‘William has been discharged from PCH and will be spending his first Christmas at home.
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‘I am in tears after he was so sick Friday and Saturday that he needed to be admitted into hospital’.
The mum also called her son a ‘Christmas miracle’ on social media.
She was allegedly ‘inconsolable’ in court, according to reports
Friends commented on how healthy the boy was looking before the incident.
Pierre Robin syndrome is not a terminal illness and, according to resources from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, most babies outgrow the critical breathing problems as their airways develop.
This combination of features can lead to difficulty breathing and problems with eating early in life.
Pierre Robin sequence may occur alone or be associated with a variety of other indications and symptoms (described as syndromic).
In about 20 to 40 percent of cases, the condition occurs alone.
But the exact causes of Pierre Robin syndrome are unknown
Changes (mutations) in the DNA near the SOX9 gene are the most usual genetic cause of separate cases of Pierre Robin sequence.
Treatment is centered on the particular needs of each patient but may include surgery to assist with breathing and feeding adjustments to prevent choking.
