A four-year-old girl had her eyelids glued shut when a doctor accidentally used excessive adhesive to close a cut, a court has heard. Saoirse Feeney, now eight, suffered the incident at Crumlin Hospital, Dublin, in August 2022. Her family has received a €15,000 (£12,000) settlement after suing Children’s Health Ireland.
Incident details
Feeney was taken to A&E by her mother after hitting her head on a wooden table, leaving a cut above her eye. Her mother, a paediatric nurse, had applied butterfly stitches to stem the bleeding. During treatment, a doctor decided to glue the wound but used “copious glue use,” causing the adhesive to enter Feeney’s left eye, sealing it shut.
Barrister Anita Finucane, representing the family, told Judge Sinead Ní Chúlachain that the excessive glue led to concerns about long-term eyesight damage. Feeney was transferred to Temple Street Children’s Hospital for treatment.
Treatment and aftermath
At Temple Street, four rounds of irrigation with three litres of fluid were needed to remove the glue. Finucane described the procedure as “an extremely distressing event.” The glue left residue on Feeney’s eyebrows and caused some bottom eyelashes to fall out, while others turned inward, causing discomfort. She required antibiotic eye drops four times daily for six weeks.
Finucane noted that Feeney appeared self-conscious when she returned to school nine days later. In a brief conversation with the judge, Feeney said she did not remember the hospital experiences.
Legal outcome
The family sued Children’s Health Ireland, which runs paediatric services in the Republic of Ireland. The body offered a €15,000 (£12,000) settlement, which Judge Ní Chúlachain accepted. She said Feeney was fortunate to have no permanent eye injury and that the sum was “at the top end” of recommended compensation for transient eye injury.
