Georgina’s path to death was described at the trial of Roula Pispirigou by the nurse of the “Aglaia Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital, Aikaterini Kavvadia, who “with a normal, steady step” was informed by the accused about the child’s cruelest episode, the one that cut the thread of his life.

The nurse testified in the Joint Jury about the “last alarm” for Georgina, the one that at around 2:30 in the afternoon on January 29, 2022 mobilized doctors and nurses in the dramatic resuscitation effort that did not bear fruit.

“At 2:28 in the afternoon – I remember it because I looked at the time on my mobile phone – the mother came to notify us. He had a normal step, steady. He was looking towards us. At some point he saw me there. He was looking around, I realized he was looking for us. I asked her “do you want anything?” and thinking of the episodes the child was doing, I said to her “is Georgina doing an episode?”. She nodded to me in the affirmative, shaking her head,” the witness said of the beginning of the child’s end.

The nurse described in detail what happened from that moment onwards while also talking about the image of the mother. She was impressed by her whole attitude in such a critical incident of her child, her composure. “What happened to me that day has never happened to me again,” he emphasized.

As the witness testified, immediately after notifying the mother: “I thought of calling the doctor who was next door. I called Mrs. Kouroussi who was in charge and I went with the mother to the child’s ward. We arrived together with the doctor and entered the ward together. We left out the mother. We found the child not in an emergency episode but in a more serious episode. The most urgent.

She had blue lips and turned her head to the left. As we entered we heard a snore. He had low oximeter readings that are not consistent with life. I heard the doctor giving me instructions for CPR. I started compressions and the doctor was examining the child. I started compressions and said to my colleague “come to my place immediately so I can call the Unit”. I ran to our office and called the Unit (ICU). I told them “come on now, we have an outage”.

As soon as I re-entered the chamber, so did the Unit. We take a step back when the Unit comes, they take over. I sat in the ward for a while and the Unit colleague asked me for some syringes. I left the ward and informed the shift manager. I stayed outside the ward and I remember the doctor telling the mother what was going on. The mother was then taken to the principals office for briefing. I stayed up until the Unit left. My shift was over and I stayed for a while in case something was needed because the colleagues had to prepare the child for everything else.”

President: Is it usual for the parent who accompanies the child to give the medicine?

Witness: The nurses can administer all the medicines, but for the children who have a gastrostomy and have to go home, the parents are trained to give the medicines and the food and they continue when they come to the hospital. They are not allowed intravenously. This instruction was changed on Friday at noon and it said that we should give the medicines for gastrostromia. Mrs. Mavrikou gave the order because she wanted to be more sure that the drugs would be administered correctly because the child had had some episodes.

Chairman: (on mother’s mode of notification) Did you hear her scream?

Witness: No.

Chairman: When did it reach you?

Witness: When he reached me he was not talking to me. I said to her “do you want anything?”. I asked her if “the kid is having an episode” and she nodded her head.

President: Was she worried?

Witness: No. From the mother’s reaction, I didn’t understand that it was something so urgent…

President: Do you remember your mother telling you to “run”?

Witness: I don’t remember him telling us anything like that.

President: At that time when he entered the ward, do you remember him shouting anything at you or the doctor?

Witness: No, he didn’t shout anything. He was standing. Ambu was on the left side of the bedside table and she made a move to give it to us. I also remember him taking out a small mouse-like machine and placing it against the child’s heart. The doctor interrupted her and told her to go outside.

Chairman: Was he wearing a mask and you couldn’t understand what he was saying?

Witness: He was holding it in his hands, he was not wearing it.

Chairman. Do you remember if you heard any other sound?

Witness: We didn’t hear anything. I realized afterwards that we weren’t hearing the oximeter, which beeps loudly when something is wrong.

Chairman: Does this have a mute button?

Witness: Yes it has a button that you press to mute it but it comes back after two minutes and you have to press it again.

Chairman: Was the oximeter connected?

Witness: Yes, on the child’s little hand or foot.

President: If it doesn’t catch well, what does the oximeter show?

Witness: Tightenings that are not representative. But we also measure with a blood pressure monitor, with headphones and by palpation to see if it’s going well. The oximeter was working normally the morning we went. It makes a sound that can be heard all the way to the nurses station.

President: During the resuscitation, did you go out of the wards? Where was the mother?

Witness: Across the ward or walking down the hall. There he has a waiting area, he had his cell phone in his hands and was talking a lot.

President: Did he ever approach you to ask?

Witness: Not me.

President: Do you remember how the condition of the accused was during all this time?

Witness: I don’t remember him asking us anything. I saw her later in the directors office. She was talking on the cell phone and crying, probably talking to her father because I heard her say “Dad I’m hanging up on you”. I asked her if she needed anything from us and she said no.

Chairman: During the whole time you were in the hospital did you hear any complaint, any protest from the parents?

Witness: No, I don’t remember anything like that. I saw the father the first night, I had not said anything more to the mother. The father, after the objection, came and immediately approached the mother, knelt down and sat near her and they talked.

The trial will continue tomorrow.