The parents of Nowra toddler Troy Almond, Daniel Almond and Kim Macklin hope their son’s death won’t be in vain.
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Troy died on March 22, 2016, aged just 17-months-old, less than 24 hours after being discharged from Shoalhaven District Hospital emergency department.
He had been sent home with a suspected viral infection. Instead the toddler had a bacterial infection and an autopsy revealed he died of sepsis.
Outside Nowra Court, after deputy state coroner Teresa O’Sullivan delivered her findings, Mr Almond said it was very hard to hear the findings put into such a “clear cut context”.
“It was just really hard to hear what we just sat through,” he said.
“All we can hope is by us going through this. it can contribute to this not happening again.
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“Through Troy’s loss and our loss hopefully other families won’t have to experience the same circumstances.
“We know it’s taken a lot of work by a lot of people to come to this point - we’d like to extend our thanks to the Office of the Coroner, the corner herself, the crown solicitors’ officers and all people involved including council assisting.”
Ms Macklin said they miss their son “tremendously”.
“We hope by going through all of this other families won’t have too,” she said.
“Hopefully it makes a difference.”
Ms Macklin described Troy as a “very bright, beautiful, happy, outgoing little boy”.
“He was quick to learn anything. He was running around climbing everything,” she said.
“He was super tight-knit with his brothers and they were fiercely protective of him.
“It is a terrible loss for all of us.”
Last week Mr Almond said when Troy died, it was “like the sun had gone out”.
The couple said they would continue to fight for better protocols in treating children with suspected sepsis but would not make any statement on that at the moment.
Read more: Crime/Court