Warning: This article contains information about the loss of a child that may be distressing for some readers.
1. Heartbroken father delivered his own daughter in a “short-staffed” NSW hospital, only to watch her stop breathing in his arms.
A grief-stricken father who was forced to deliver his own baby because a Sydney hospital was so short-staffed has broken down at an inquest while reliving the ordeal of losing his daughter, AAP reports.
Sam Amone was alone with his pregnant wife Sharon at Fairfield Hospital in November 2014 when their little girl was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
Now, more than three years after his daughter Manusiu stopped breathing in his arms, the emotional dad on Monday told the inquest he frantically called for help and pressed the emergency button, but received no answer.
“As soon as she had the baby I just ran outside and screamed for someone to come,” Mr Amone told Glebe Coroners Court.
A registrar arrived within two minutes to remove the umbilical cord, but the father of three said it felt like “an age”.
The inquest heard that a nurse was then able to induce breathing by slapping the newborn on the buttocks, but within 15 minutes the parents knew something wasn’t right.