A six-year-old boy from Great Cornard died after living with chronic kidney disease and cerebral palsy, a court heard.

Charlie Mitcham died at his home in Great Conard on June 11 last year, two months shy of his seventh birthday, Suffolk Coroners Court heard on Monday. 

Charlie was born prematurely at 29 weeks on August 1, 2016 with his health stable for the first five days of his life.

However, he rapidly deteriorated on August 6, leading him being transferred from Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. 

It was found that Charlie had contracted sepsis, and it was later identified that he had sustained a neonatal kidney injury as a result of his blood pressure becoming dangerously low, compromising his vital organs.

Charlie was left with cerebral palsy which affected all four of his limbs.

A statement from Charlie’s mother, Christina Mitcham, was read before the court by Senior Coroner Nigel Parsley.

Charlie, she said, loved spending time with his family, and joined in with family activities as much as he could.

On Monday, evidence was given by Dr Martin Christian, a paediatric nephrologist who ran clinics at the West Suffolk Hospital which Charlie attended with his parents, James and Christina Mitcham.

The kidney specialist recalled that Charlie always came to his clinics with a smile on his face.

“It was very humbling to see how lovingly he was cared for, for those six years of his life,” he said.

The events leading up to Charlie’s sudden deterioration as a baby on August 6, 2016, were heard before the inquest.

Charlie had been fitted with an umbilical venous catheter UVC), a tube which is inserted into the umbilical vein of a newborn baby to provide fluids, nutrition, and in some instances medication. 

When a line is incorrectly inserted, extravasation can occur. This is when fluid or medication leaks from a blood vessel into its surroundings.

A report written by a radiologist based on an X-Ray taken on August 1 stated that the UVC could possibly have entered his left portal vein.

However, three doctors told the court on Monday that in their view, the UVC was in the correct place. 

Dr Victoria Clarke, who at the time was a registrar at Broomfield, had inserted the UVC. She explained that had the catheter been incorrectly placed, she would have been able to feel resistance. She said she also would not have been able to draw blood, or to ‘flush’ the catheter, both of which she was able to do.

Dr Ahmed Hassan, a consultant paediatrician and neonatologist, agreed with Dr Clarke. He explained that the X-Ray may have appeared deceptive as the image was ‘rotated’. This occurs when a baby does not lie completely still or straight when the X-Ray is taken. 

Consultant paediatrician Dr Dean Lethaby told the court that, had the UVC been incorrectly placed, he had “no doubt” that Charlie would have become unwell very rapidly, following its insertion on August 1. 

He said “as confidently as I can” that the UVC was never in Charlie’s portal system.