Sydney family sues children’s hospital over alleged brain injury that left baby permanently disabled

A Sydney family has launched a lawsuit against the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, alleging their daughter suffered a catastrophic brain injury while in hospital care as a newborn, leaving her permanently disabled.

Tomi Onakoya, now six years old, was born prematurely in February 2019 at just 30 weeks. She spent several months in different hospitals, including the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, where her parents allege the injury occurred.

Parents suffer too

“She can’t do anything by herself,” her mother, Olamide Onakoya, told 9News. “I feed her, bathe her, do everything. She’s not talking yet, no words at all.”

Her father, Matthew, claims he witnessed a concerning incident during a medical examination at Westmead in April 2019. “I saw my daughter’s head flip forward and backward,” he said. Later that day, he says her eyes began rolling back in her head. Tomi was discharged from the hospital three days later.

But just weeks after returning home, Tomi stopped breathing and turned blue. Her parents say she was rushed back to the hospital, where doctors discovered bleeding on her brain. A medical report described the injury as “highly concerning” and suggested it was consistent with a “shaking injury”.

According to police records, staff at the hospital alerted authorities at the time. However, the NSW Police Child Abuse Unit later closed the investigation, stating the injuries “cannot be linked” to the time after Tomi had returned home. One doctor reportedly told police that while it was “likely not to have occurred in the hospital,” the possibility it happened in one of the hospitals could not be ruled out.

Legal action against the hospital

Tomi’s parents are now taking legal action in the New South Wales Supreme Court, seeking accountability from the hospital system they once trusted. “Every day we were in the hospital. We trusted them so much,” Olamide said. Matthew added, “I want justice for my daughter.”

The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network has declined to comment, citing ongoing legal proceedings.

The case will return to court next week, where a judge will determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed. This case comes amid broader scrutiny of pediatric care standards across New South Wales, with multiple families raising concerns over treatment in public hospitals in recent years.