LONDON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A British quadriplegic suffered irreparable brain damage when a nurse turned off his ventilator and could not restart it, his family charges.
Violeta Aylward, a private agency nurse working for the National Health Service, was caught on camera turning off the machine keeping Jamie Merrett alive at his home in Devizes, Wiltshire, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.
Merrett, paralyzed from the neck down after a 2002 auto accident, had the camera set up because he was concerned about the care he was getting.
Footage recorded in January 2009 shows Aylward fiddling with the ventilator before a warning tone indicated it was switched off. She was unable to restart the ventilator, and 21 minutes passed before paramedics managed to turn it back on.
By that time, Merrett had suffered serious brain damage, which has left him with the mental capacity of a young child, his family says. He is now mounting legal action.
Aylward has been suspended while the incident is investigated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
