Refugee raised health concerns before he died on Manus Island, court told

A coroner will examine the circumstances of the death of a refugee who died following a fatal fall while detained on Manus Island.

Health experts have raised concerns about the medical care that was provided to a refugee who died after a fatal fall while detained on Manus Island before he was evacuated to Australia, a court has been told.

Faysal Ishak Ahmed was only 27 when he suffered a critical head injury in December 2016, dying in a Brisbane hospital days later.

A coroner will now examine the circumstances of Ahmed’s death, including whether or not there were any preventable delays in evacuating him from the island to Australia and if the medical care he received on Manus Island was adequate.

Ahmed, from Sudan, had been detained on the island since 2013. On December 22, 2016, he suffered a life-threatening head injury after falling down a flight of stairs about 10.17pm.

It was determined he needed urgent medical evacuation to Australia but this did not occur until 2.15pm the following day.

Despite attempts to keep him alive, Ahmed passed away in Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital on December 24.

During a pre-inquest conference on Friday, counsel assisting the coroner Rhiannon Helsen said Ahmed was found to have suffered a traumatic brain injury after his fall. “He was also suffering from acute pneumonia and multi-organ failure secondary to this head injury,” she said.

The inquest will examine the adequacy and appropriateness of the medical care he received while detained on the island, and on the day of his fall until he was medically evacuated.

It will also examine whether there was an avoidable delay in Ahmed’s evacuation to Australia and the appropriateness of Manus Island’s medical evacuation policies.

On Friday, the court was told Ahmed had frequently been assessed by medical staff on the island, complaining of gastric symptoms, kidney pain, chronic sinusitis, mental health issues, and chest pains.

Just days before his death, he had complained of shortness of breath and chest pains.

“None of the clinical examinations, pathology studies or biochemistry studies had demonstrated any objective evidence of a physical cause of the symptoms,” Ms Helsen said.

Ms Helsen said an expert report raised “some concerns” on the adequacy of the general medical care Ahmed received while at the detention centre.

NCA NEWSWIRE