Girl’s fight for life: Family share horror story, reveal details of NT Police’s mouldy home

An eight-year-old girl was left with lifelong ailments after a medical episode the family says was caused by mould growing in an NT Police home. READ THE HORRIFYING ACCOUNT.

Police bureaucracy allegedly ignored pleas to combat rampant mould in an officer’s home on the Tiwi Islands, in the years leading up to a terrifying medical episode which left an eight-year-old girl in ICU with “decaying flesh” in her throat.

It’s led an MLA to take the matter to the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption.

The NT News has also obtained a letter written by the Attorney-General Selena Uibo from last month, vowing an NT WorkSafe investigation into what NT Police knew about the mould before the incident.

Sienna Santiago was described by doctors as the “unluckiest girl in the world” after contracting a serious throat infection, which the family believes was the result of exposure to mould and fungus inside their Pirlangimpi home provided to them by NT Police.

Steven Thomson, daughter Sienna Santiago (bottom left) and family in 2020. Picture: File

The young girl was in ICU fighting for her life for 11 days.

A mould report deemed their former police home unfit for habitation following the incident.

Now located in New Zealand, her father Stephen Thomson said Sienna is still unable to move the left side of her face, blink in her left eye and has reduced feeling in her right toes.

A letter written by then-Attorney-General Selena Uibo saying WorkSafe would investigate reports that police were alerted to the mould situation before April 2019. Picture: Supplied

Sienna’s illness first began on Wednesday March 20 2019, and continued to worsen. By the Friday, Mr Thomson said his daughter was unable to swallow water and food, and was having trouble breathing.

She was Medevac’ed to the Royal Darwin Hospital on the Saturday, where Mr Thomson said doctors diagnosed her with epiglottitis and pseudomonas.

“The specialist who saw her said she was the unluckiest girl in the world,” he said.

“The epiglottis (the lid that prevents food entering your lungs) was swollen and almost closed up completely. All around the epiglottis was a grey-green-brown fluff, like decaying flesh.

“It stunk, it absolutely stunk. You gagged when she breathed.”

Sienna was taken into surgery, spent 11 further days in ICU, and needed further surgery for sepsis. Doctors told the family the young girl’s immune system was suffering from a “breakdown” and agreed it was likely because of mould.

Eight-year-old Sienna Santiago in intensive care at the Royal Darwin Hospital in 2019. Her family believe her medical episode was caused by exposure to mould within their family home provided to them by NT Police. Picture: Supplied.

“I was overwhelmed,” Mr Thomson said.

“They raced her into surgery, two hours in surgery, and then she came out in full life support because her immune system had shut down.”

The horror began two years before Sienna’s illness, in April 2017 when the family moved into the police home on Melville Island. Mr Thomson was stationed in the community’s police station.

Soon after their arrival, Mr Thomson said the family tried to clean away mould that was growing on the walls, ceiling and furniture in every room of the home.

“It even ended up on our clothes at one point,” he said.

“We got cleaning products to clean it off as best as we could but within two weeks it leeched back out and became worse than before we cleaned.”

Mr Thomson made reports to his supervisor and the NT Police’s facilities management department, dating back to May 2018. He added other police homes in the community were suffering from mould.

Pictures of mould within NT Police-owned homes at Pirlangimpi, on the Tiwi Islands. Picture: Supplied

Former NT police officer Mark Turner said the situation raised questions about NT Police’s systems with dealing with workplace safety. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

He said the responses provided by NT Police simply said that home maintenance was a responsibility of the tenant.

He said he had received little compensation from NT Police over the ordeal, apart from moving expenses to help them relocate to New Zealand.

The family is yet to receive an apology.

When asked how he felt about the incident, three years on, Mr Thomson said “absolutely heartbroken”.

“I’m crying just talking to you. It’s just absolutely broken us, and our daughter is possibly going to have a disability for the rest of her life because of NT Police’s lack of assistance.”

In response to questions sent on Thursday, NT Police indicated they would not be able to get a response until Monday.

After being made aware of the incident, Territory politician and former NT police officer Mark Turner said he had written to both the then-Attorney-General Selena Uibo and the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption.

“What makes me sick to my stomach is from what I’m told, the mould outbreaks were completely out of his control, yet completely avoidable, it was photographed and reported for years,” Mr Turner said.

“Whilst I only have one side of the story I’m astounded at what appear to be a series of serious systematic failures of compliance with the Work Health and Safety Legislation and a failure to do the right thing. We have to take our health and safety duty seriously.”

The ICAC declined to comment.

Follow @thomasmorgan22 

  

Originally published as Girl’s fight for life: Family share horror story, reveal details of NT Police’s mouldy home