Respite Care Boy’s Broken Leg Riddle

An investigation has been launched after a nine-year-old boy suffering from a fatal disease came home with a broken leg after a stay in hospital.

It is not known whether Fenlan Newton-Shelbourne, who is unable to speak, broke his shin while staying at Nottingham City Hospital, while at school or in transport.

Fenlan has Batten disease, a rare, inherited disorder of the nervous system that begins in childhood.

Fenlan, who goes to the Shepherd special school in Bilborough, had been in respite care from January 28 to 30 to give his mother a rest from looking after him full-time.

But when he got home to Burnside Road, Bilborough, he began screaming as his mother took him from his wheelchair.

“I don’t know how long he was in that pain for,” said mum-of-five Mandy Newton, 41.

“That’s what was really upsetting. He normally does not say a thing. But as I was taking him from the wheelchair he was screaming like a baby.

“He was moaning. It was awful. Then to find that out (that his leg was fractured), it just knocked me to the floor. I could not believe it.”

Fenlan is unable to speak to describe what happened.

Now Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust and partner organisations are looking into the incident.

“We don’t know if it was from it was from respite or transport or school,” said Ms Newton.

“The school said he never took his shoes and socks off.

“It is uncomfortable for him. It has been a nightmare trying to change him. He has had a few rough nights.

“I will not send him back. I could not trust them.”

A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust said: “We are carrying out an investigation alongside other agencies. Until that is completed we cannot comment any further.”

Sufferers at first sometimes only show subtle signs of the disease, such as personality and behaviour changes, slow learning, clumsiness, or stumbling. Affected children suffer mental impairment, worsening seizures, and progressive loss of sight and motor skills. Eventually, they become blind and bedridden. It is often fatal by the late teens or twenties.