A SCAN on a motorbike crash victim revealed an alarming find, but he wasn’t told and died 11 years later.
Corey Bowerman suffered a horrific motorbike crash and ended up in Royal Melbourne Hospital back in 2009.
FacebookCorey Bowerman suffered a horrific motorbike crash and ended up in Royal Melbourne Hospital in 2009[/caption]
FacebookKayla Staff-Valastro and her son with Corey before he passed away[/caption]
FacebookCorey managed to battle through to attend his daughter’s wedding[/caption]
But a routine CT scan at the hospital revealed the even more alarming news that he had a suspicious lymphoma.
Despite the cancer diagnosis, Corey was never informed of it during his hospital stay or after.
Six years later he would return to hospital, but again there would be no mention of the suspicious lymphoma.
It was only in 2020 when Corey collapsed at a restaurant and was rushed to the hospital that he was told his stomach was riddled with cancer.
His daughter Kayla Staff-Valastro told news.com.au: “We were told by one doctor that dad had only weeks to live, so we were all quite a mess.
“It was just so distressing.”
Despite eventually reaching a confidential settlement with the hospital, Corey would never recover.
During the pandemic, he was on the verge of trialling a new treatment but he tragically contracted Covid-19 and would be no longer eligible.
Kayla, who was attempting to organise her wedding at the time, described the situation as one of the most stressful of her life.
Despite his health complications, Corey battled on and was able to walk Kayla down the aisle and even meet her first child, Sonny, nine months later.
She said: “The whole time I was pregnant I was thinking, ‘Is he going to meet my child’.”
Corey was in the same hospital as Sonny when he was born and Kayla quickly introduced him to his grandson.
A TikTok video of the introduction has gone viral and been viewed by 5.2 million people.
Kayla said: “I truly do believe he held on to meet Sonny.
“When I went into the room, I said ‘Are you ready to meet your grandson?’ and he got emotional when I picked Sonny up and as you can see from the TikTok he said Sonny’s name.”
Shine Lawyers’ senior solicitor Rachel Seager said she was “pleased to provide Corey with some peace of mind by resolving his compensation claim before he died”.
Sadly Corey passed away shortly after the meeting.
‘FEELING NUMB’
Kayla said that the ordeal was the “biggest battle of her life”.
She said: “I was going through grief and I was running off no sleep.
“I wasn’t sure if I had post baby blues or it was just grief, I just remember for days feeling numb and my chest feeling so heavy, being in so much pain from my C-section, trying to navigate my body changes, adapt to breastfeeding, no sleep, but also trying to be there for my family.”
Ms Staff-Valastro said she is angry and upset about the hospital failing to follow up after the suspicious lymphoma was first discovered.
She said: “We spoke every day, he was the life of the party but most of all he was a great listener. I’ll forever miss him and really do.”
A spokesman for Royal Melbourne Hospital said it sent its condolences to the family of Corey Bowerman.
“We’re unable to comment any further having settled the proceedings last year on confidential terms,” the spokesman said.