Nurse Faces Scrutiny After Ventilator Incident Precedes Girl's Death

A teenage girl with Down's syndrome and complex medical needs died four months after a nurse mistakenly switched off her life-saving ventilator for nearly six minutes. Joy Osundeko, 13, required constant respiratory support due to her serious health conditions.

CCTV footage from February 2022 captured the moment the nurse pressed a button on Joy's ventilator, causing the monitor to go dark and the machine to shut down. Joy's mother, who was in an adjacent room, discovered her daughter "completely lifeless" and, along with her husband, desperately attempted to resuscitate her. The ventilator had been switched off for approximately six minutes before Joy began to breathe again.

Joy's father recounted the harrowing experience, stating that he found his daughter unresponsive and had to manually administer oxygen. He noted the absence of an alarm from the ventilator and expressed shock upon realizing it had been turned off. The nurse reportedly offered apologies and initially claimed the machine had only been off for seconds, a statement contradicted by the CCTV evidence.

Following the incident, Joy's family reported a significant decline in her health and well-being. Her parents described a loss of her previous animation and a general deterioration in her condition, stating she "lost her spark." Joy was hospitalized for nine days after the event. She ultimately died four months later, after her 14th birthday, following a stroke that resulted in brain stem death.

The care company employing the nurse, Optima Health and Social Care Ltd, admitted to breaching its duty of care regarding the ventilator incident. However, the company denied that the event caused Joy's death or any injury. The family pursued legal action and reached an out-of-court damages settlement.

Initially, a police investigation led to criminal charges against the nurse, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to proceed with a prosecution in December 2025, citing a lack of evidence to prove willful intent to cause harm. The nurse has continued to work in a supervised capacity. The family's request for a coroner's inquest was also denied, with the coroner citing the time elapsed since Joy's death and the unavailability of crucial evidence due to cremation.

Joy's parents have expressed deep distress and a feeling of being let down by the legal and investigative systems, seeking an explanation for how such a critical error occurred. The Nursing and Midwifery Council is currently investigating the incident. Joy's parents remembered her as a source of happiness, whose smile could illuminate a room, and feel the circumstances of her death remain unexplained.