CORONER James McDougall will investigate the circumstances of the death of a nine-year-old boy less than a day after he was discharged from the Mater Children’s Hospital in January.
An inquest into Hunter Marr’s death is to begin in Brisbane on Friday, when his grieving parents Matthew and Michelle are to take the stand.
Hunter died at his Ormeau home, south of Brisbane, on January 6, about 19 hours after he was released from hospital where he was treated for breathing difficulties.
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A preliminary autopsy found he died of asthma.
The inquest is expected to explore whether Hunter should have been examined by a respiratory specialist while he was in the Mater Children’s and other issues relating to his care.
Mr Marr, who has two other sons, Mitchell, 11, and Jasper, 2, said he would never get over the death of his middle child.
“Nothing’s going to bring my boy back,” he said. “Every day is a nightmare. Nothing helps. It has been absolutely awful. I don’t really sleep.
The funeral of Hunter Marr, 9, was held at the Highway Christian church in Ormeau. Source: News Limited
“You close your eyes and you see what happened. To be honest, I’m looking for justice. If people were negligent, they need to be held accountable.”
Mr Marr said he planned to attend every day of his son’s inquest.
Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics took 19 minutes to arrive at the Marrs’ house after an 8.22am triple-0 call the morning after Hunter was released from the Mater Children’s.
A QAS spokesman said it would be inappropriate to make any public comment about the case until the inquest had been completed.
Mater Children’s Hospital staff are expected to be called to give evidence at the inquest which has been set down for six days.
A Mater spokeswoman said she was unable to comment while the matter was still before the coroner except to say the hospital had “cooperated fully and proactively” with the investigation and would continue to do so.