Dad had to be ‘coaxed’ into visiting son as he died from TB

A father who had to be “coaxed” into visiting his teen son as he lay on life support battling tuberculosis has admitted he “could have done a bit better”.

A teenage boy died at Royal Children's Hospital after a tough battle with tuberculosis.

A teenage boy died after his father failed to seek any medical assistance for his “favourite” child who had been suffering from a fatal bout of tuberculosis for several months, a court has heard.

Mohamed Mussa was just 15-years-old when he succumbed to his illness after spending 39 days on life support in the Royal Children’s Hospital in September 2005.

Doctors initially believed the boy was suffering from an acute case of anorexia when paramedics were called to help Reservoir teen who had become gravely ill and bedridden.

They later discovered he was suffering from tuberculosis “in its severest form” and may have contracted the disease as early as February that year.

Medical experts later told the coroner’s office Mohamed’s condition was so poor, it had only been seen in developing countries.

Homicide squad detectives twice referred the teenager’s case to the state’s top prosecutor over concerns of severe neglect by Mohamed’s father, Mahamoud Awali, who failed to attend his dying son’s bedside despite repeated requests from hospital staff.

But Coroner Phil Byrne on Tuesday said those requests for criminal prosecution had been rejected and it fell to him to make a coronial finding about the cause of Mohamed’s death.

Mr Byrne indicated he will rule their was an omission of care that led to the teen’s death.

Mr Awali, a former interpreter for the Australian Army in Somalia, broke down in tears as he told the court his son’s death would haunt him “until the day I go into the ground”.

“If given the time, I would have taken the place of Mohamed,” Mr Awali said.

“Yes, I could have done a bit better, but I did all I need and all I could at the time your honour,” he said.

Mr Byrne responded: “Surely you understand you could have done a lot better”.

The court heard before coming to Australia, Mr Awali had also worked as a nurse and treated patients for tuberculosis.

A protection order was put in place during the final weeks of Mohamed’s life, effectively taking all medical decisions out of Mr Awali’s hands, after hospital staff struggled to contact him when urgent consent was needed for treatment.

“Mr Awali often had to be coaxed into attending (the hospital) to visit his son,” the court heard.

The court heard Mohamed had not attended school in the two years leading up to his death and seven notifications had been made to the Department of Health over concerns for him and his little brother.

“Doctors believe if Mohamed had been at school or in the public arena, he certainly would have been unwell enough to raise the attention of authorities,” the court heard.

Mr Awali said at the time of Mohamed’s death, three of his children remained in Somalia – two of whom were being held as hostages – and he was struggling to cope.

“I had no one, not even a close friend or relative in Australia to support me emotionally or mentally,” he said.

“I’ve had five sons, Mohamed was my eldest, my favourite and the one I loved most of all,” he said.

“The day they decided to turn off the life support of my son … it haunts me to this day,” Mr Awali said.

My Byrne will hand down his findings at a later date.