“We had some misgivings about the Georgina episodes. Some things didn’t suit us. Not everything was the same. Our suspicion was that the episodes could be provoked by the mother” testified at the trial of Roula Pispirigou, the pediatrician at the Patras University Hospital, Aris Bertzouanis.

The witness which was called by court decision after the testimony of the pediatric neurologist in Rio Polixenis Pelekouda, he confirmed with his testimony what his colleague claimed about the suspicions they had about the episodes the little patient was having.

Mr. Berzouanis referred to two episodes of convulsions that Georgina manifested on January 25, 2022, four days before he died, labeling one of the two serious as he had to be resuscitated during it.

“On 25/01/2022, I remember earlier from the end of the morning briefing, the nurse called us that something was happening to the child, it was an episode, we attributed it to convulsions the day before, it was of short duration. I stayed in the ward until it was done, told mother we were investigating and went back in after five to ten minutes. The mother was alone in the room and she said that the child is having an episode again. It was the most serious episode so far. I called my colleague to bring resuscitation tools, we did Ambu, he needed ventilation for a minute and he came back,” said the witness who was then asked to explain their concerns.

Chairman: Was there any suspicion why these episodes occur?

Witness: There has been much reflection on this. They were initially treated as convulsive episodes. But we had some misgivings, some things didn’t suit us. They weren’t all the same, that didn’t suit us, they had different durations, they had different forms. I’m not an expert in these cases. Another thing that didn’t suit us was that we hadn’t seen episodes from the beginning. He was also a child who did not have episodes in the ICU.

Chairman: Did you talk to Ms. Pelekuda or others about how these episodes are caused?

Witness: We discussed it. Our suspicion was that the episodes could be caused by the mother. The suspicion was based on the fact that episodes took place without the presence of anyone else, only the mother, and that we could not give any other explanation.

Prosecutor: Did the mother understand that you can’t reason episodes? That you can find no reason. Was he anxious?

Witness: Yes. He was anxious. He was asking why we can’t find what’s going on.

Prosecutor: He blamed you for what you do and don’t do and are these caused? He came to a pediatric clinic and suddenly the child started having episodes that he did not have at home. Did you see her indignant?

Witness: No, I didn’t see her indignant. She was very cooperative.

Prosecutor: Did the episodes have a pattern?

Witness: No.

Prosecutor: Have you discussed this with mother?

Witness: I remember him saying that he saw some things on the monitor, I don’t remember what.

Prosecutor: Was there criticism from the mother that you are not doing anything to help the child?

Witness: Not to me from my mother. The father was a little angry and insisted that a solution be found.

In his own testimony, the pediatrician at “Aglaia Kyriakou” Evangelos Bourousis described what happened during the last resuscitation of Georginaas he had been at the hospital for another reason on the day in question and immediately rushed to help.

“It was Saturday, noon. I had ended up in the hospital by mistake. At one point I saw one of the nurses telling me she was having a seizure. I immediately went to help. I saw a dead child. CPR was being performed, with Mr. Giuva. We shared CPR and Ambu. I was keeping the time of five minutes on my cell phone,” described the witness.

Chairman: Do you remember anything about the resuscitation process?

Witness: Nothing specific. I remember everything running like clockwork.

Chairman: Do you remember if any other formulation (besides Rucuronium) was used?

Witness: Not just adrenaline.

Chairman: I remember that Mr. Giuvas came out somewhere in the middle. He informed the mother, she told him that in Patras the resuscitation lasted about 55 minutes and she wanted us to continue.

Chairman: What was the update about?

Witness: That the child does not return. Mother said this about Patras and we continued the resuscitation.

The witness described that after the mother was informed that her daughter did not make it and after thanking them, she asked them twice if the forensic examination could be done in Patras. “The second time, the mother knocks on the door and tells us “I have spoken to the forensic pathologist in Patras”. This impressed us. I’ve never had a parent call a coroner before. He told us that “I wouldn’t want to get involved with Athens”…”. the witness pointed out.

Chairman: Why; Did he tell you something?

Witness: No we didn’t get into it.

Chairman: Did dad come too?

Witness: It came later. To learn the procedures, if he has to do something at that moment or the next day.

Chairman: Did he have the same request as mother?

Witness: I do not remember.

The nurse at the Children’s Hospital, Elisavet Papasimakopoulou, described in her testimony the day Georgina suffered the fatal stroke.

“Around 2:30 we were with my colleague at the nurses’ station and the mother came. I couldn’t tell if it was telling us anything. And the colleague asks “is the child okay? is he convulsing?” and then I realized something was happening” said the witness, adding that the mother connected the AMBU and gave her to the doctors.

Regarding the mother’s reactions while Georgina was being resuscitated, the witness said that the accused was on the phone with the doctor who had put the defibrillator on the child“”I remember him saying to give the phone to Mr. Giuva and how we had put it on speakerphone” he reported.

The trial continues.