Toddler dies from severe brain damage
 
The sydney Morning Herald
Paul Dibby
March 30,2015
 
 
Tara-Rae Maxwell leaves the Coronor's court on Monday after giving evidence into the mysterious death of her son Darcy Atkinson in 2012.

Tara-Rae Maxwell leaves the Coronor's court on Monday after giving evidence into the mysterious death of her son Darcy Atkinson in 2012. Photo: Ben Rushton

On December 6, 2012 two-year-old Darcy Atkinson was taken to Gosford Hospital with bruising on his arms, legs and ears, the stimulant Ritalin in his blood stream, and a severe brain injury that would claim his life soon after.

More than two years later investigators are still trying to explain the child's death, the NSW Coroner's Court has heard.

Darcy's mother, Tara-Rae Maxwell told the court on Monday that her son had been "lethargic" and "chesty" on the morning of December 6 when she left him in the care of her boyfriend Adam Taylor.

Peter Atkinson leaves the inquest into his son Darcy's death on Monday.

Peter Atkinson leaves the inquest into his son Darcy's death on Monday. Photo: Ben Rushton

Ms Maxwell said that she received a text message from Mr Taylor later that morning reporting that Darcy had "had a little fall" while the pair had been out paddle-boarding but that he was now fine and they were planning to get some ice cream.

She said she thought the text had been accompanied by a picture of the pair together at the beach but she could not now remember what happened to the text or the picture, or whether the picture had ever existed.

Some time in the afternoon, Mr Taylor contacted Darcy's mother again to tell her that he was critically ill and being rushed to hospital.

Two-year-old Darcy Atkinson who died from a brain injury.

Two-year-old Darcy Atkinson who died from a brain injury. Photo: Schooley Mitchell Organ Donation Facebook page

The toddler had begun vomiting up water after swimming in the pool at Mr Taylor's home and then become rigid and un-responsive when he and his housemate, Nicole Warne, had put him in the bath.

"He [Darcy] was so stiff he couldn't hold himself up, he kept on falling backwards," Ms Warne said of Darcy's rapid deterioration.

"That's when Adam started to panic – he kept saying 'do you think we should call an ambulance?'."

Eventually an ambulance was called and Darcy was rushed to Gosford Hospital and then air-lifted to Westmead Children's Hospital where he died the next day.

After initially giving police brief statements, Ms Maxwell and Mr Taylor hired a solicitor to tell police they did not wish to be interviewed.

When police asked to see the text and photograph corroborating Mr Taylor's version of events, Ms Maxwell did not provide it.

"Can I suggest that if there was a photo of Darcy sent by Adam on that morning that it would be the last photo of him having fun and being alive, that you would have saved it given what a special photo it would have been?" counsel assisting the inquest Warwick Hunt asked Ms Maxwell.

"I don't know why …" Ms Maxwell replied.

The court heard at the hospital, staff noticed Darcy had bruises on his arms, legs, ears and temple.

Ms Maxwell said the toddler may have got the bruises at a playground some days before, and that those on his temple could have been the result of a bump to his head at childcare.

She denied any knowledge of how the bruises to Darcy's arms and legs were caused or why he had traces of the medication Ritalin, a stimulant commonly used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, in his blood stream.

Ms Maxwell, said that at no point had she come to doubt Mr Taylor's version of events, even after the two had a physical fight which left her with bruises across her body.

"Does it make you think about what Adam told you about the day of the injury?" Mr Hunt asked.

"No," Ms Maxwell replied.

The inquest continues.

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