The parents of an eight-month-old baby who died at a hospital in regional Western Australia are still looking for answers after a clinical review of her care was unable to determine a cause of death.
Baby Willow Katarina Horne died on September 9 last year, two days after being admitted to the emergency department at Kalgoorlie Health Campus just after midnight with respiratory issues.
Doctors do not know the cause of baby Willow’s death. (Supplied)
Her parents, Kaydence Sutherland and William Horne, are hopeful a coronial inquest will provide answers.
“They reassured us that nothing else could have been done for Willow … I believe she would have had a great chance if she made it to Perth,” Ms Sutherland said.
“As Willow’s parents, I think we deserve to know what happened to our daughter and how it happened … and if an inquest can get us some answers then that’s what I’d like.
“I do feel quite failed … I feel we failed Willow; she could have possibly been here if things were done the way they should have been.”
Clinical review
WA Country Health Service’s executive director of clinical excellence Helen Van Gessel led a panel of six healthcare professionals who reviewed the infant’s case, including a paediatric intensive care specialist.
Helen Van Gessel completed her review in February. (Supplied)
Dr Van Gessel said the panel found Willow was monitored continuously throughout her time in hospital with frequent reviews and treatment by senior paediatric clinicians.
She said no staff had been reprimanded following the review, and there was no suggestion of medical negligence or malpractice.
“While we do not have a confirmed cause of death, as a panel, we formed the view that Willow’s death was likely due to myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle, usually due to a viral infection,” Dr Van Gessel said.
“It is very rare, difficult to diagnose and unfortunately when it causes heart failure, it has a very high fatality rate, especially in young children.
“This loss has been deeply felt by our staff … it’s important to remember in country WA our staff are part of the communities they serve.
“I want to really clear that as a panel, we found all staff in Willow’s care were very concerned for her as were her family.”
Dr Van Gessel said Willow’s parents were regularly informed during the review, which she said was completed in February and provided to the family in April.
“While we know nothing can replace their loss, it was important that we undertook a thorough and detailed examination of what happened,” she said.
“We did this, first and foremost, to provide answers to the family and I can confirm we’ve met with them frequently throughout this process, most recently in April.”
Report findings
In the report findings, the panel found that the aeromedical retrieval network was operating under limitations at the time Willow needed to be transferred to Perth Children’s Hospital.
The limitations resulted in a plane not being available to transfer Willow.
The absence of a flight medical officer continued for the night and the preceding day shift.
Willow’s mother took her to the Emergency Department in September 2025. (ABC Goldfields: Elsa Silberstein)
“The panel’s view was that earlier, explicit awareness of the local rostered flight medical officer gap, together with contemporaneous network constraints, may have created an opportunity to implement mitigation strategies,” the report said.
The report also identified three care management problems that may have had a potential impact on the care and outcome of the patient.
These included:
- Insufficient consideration of alternate diagnosis
- Response to physiological deterioration not consistent with policy
- Limited shared situational awareness across clinical and coordination teams.
The report outlines seven recommendations aimed at preventing or mitigating the contributing factors to Willow’s death.
Baby Willow was eight months old when she died. (Supplied)
Dr Van Gessel said all the recommendations were accepted and “all are being implemented and most are actually complete”.
She said a coronial inquest would likely occur in the future.
“These kind of cases are always referred to the coroner,” she said.
“In the country, the coronial investigations are undertaken by police and I understand that they have started an investigation into this matter, so I am sure we will hear from the coroner at the right time.”
WA’s Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti on Sunday offered her sympathy to Willow’s family.
“First of all, our sympathy goes to the family … it’s an unimaginable tragedy and the pain they’re experiencing, so our sympathy goes to the family,”
she said.
“I am speaking to the Minister for Health today regarding a coronial inquest, and we would welcome one.”
Parents devastated by loss
Ms Sutherland said in hindsight she believed staff did not take her concerns seriously.
“I really felt while we were in there, my concerns weren’t being heard. She was definitely deteriorating and you could see it, and I was raising concerns and nothing was changing,” she said.
Kaydence Sutherland and William Horne are the parents of Willow, who died at eight months old. (ABC News)
“Things definitely weren’t normal and as a first-time mum, I obviously don’t have much experience dealing with hospital systems or sick kids, and I definitely felt like they treated me like I was a first-time mum who didn’t know what was going on.”
Willow’s father, William Horne, was on a flight from Kalgoorlie to Perth to meet Ms Sutherland at the hospital when the infant went into cardiac arrest.
“I freaked out, my dad grabbed me, I was crying … I didn’t know what code blue meant,” Ms Sutherland said.
“They worked on her for an hour … I ‘ll say this they did a good job going for an entire hour … we were in there holding her hand and asking her to come back.”
