Prime Time S2024E69 - Episode 69

On RTÉ Prime Time tonight, Aoife Johnston's mother and father, Carol and James, are interviewed for the first time about the devastating loss of their daughter. In December 2022, 16-year-old Aoife Johnston died after waiting nearly 14 hours for treatment at the Emergency Department of University Hospital Limerick. Aoife, who presented with suspected sepsis, passed away after a delay in receiving medical care. A recently published report into the incident has confirmed that her death was "almost certainly avoidable."

Speaking about the night Aoife was admitted to UHL, her father, James Johnston said: "There's not a day that goes by that I don't blame myself for not doing more later on during the night, and just... I just didn't think she was going to die. Like, I really. I just. If I had. If I had known, I would have torn the place apart, but I just didn't. Just didn't think like, that she was going to die on us. I really didn't."

The official report into Aoife's death highlights significant delays in care at University Hospital Limerick, where Aoife waited nearly 14 hours in the Emergency Department before receiving any form of treatment for suspected sepsis.

Aoife's parents tell presenter Miriam O'Callaghan about the family's ongoing grief and the impact their daughter's death has had on the family and the wider community.