Final hours of Joe Massa’s life outlined on day one of coronial inquest

More than two years after the death of a Sydney boy thought to have been misdiagnosed by staff at a major Sydney hospital, many questions remain as to the circumstances surrounding his death.

The coronial inquest into the death of two-year-old Joe Massa has begun with a forensic recount of the boy’s final 24 hours, in which the “happy and healthy” young boy’s condition rapidly deteriorated, before he died just before 9pm on September 16, 2024.

In painstaking detail, counsel assisting Donna Ward SC walked presiding Judge O’Sullivan through Joe’s final hours, including the devastating 30 minutes in which Northern Beaches Hospital staff desperately tried to revive him when they realised he had stopped breathing.

In her opening address to the court, Ms Ward said it was important for people to recognise the “profound loss” felt by Joe’s parents Danny and Elouise, who accompanied their son in hospital throughout the devastating ordeal.

“Joe was a funny little bundle of delight. Joe’s baby sister Annie, who has only recently joined the family, will never get to know Joe other than the stories that family and friends will share about him,” Ms Ward said.

“On Friday, September 13, 2024, Joe was his normal little self. He was still tearing around the house after his brother and sister and playing peekaboo with his mum in the kitchen.

“There was no reason to think he was anything but the happy and healthy little boy who had recently enjoyed a family holiday in Bali.”

Ms Ward went on to detail how Joe’s parents, upon realising he had been vomiting loudly throughout the night, initially made a doctor’s appointment before calling triple-0 when they realised he was struggling to breathe and had an elevated pulse.

“Each an expert in their own child, they were better placed than anyone else to understand what was usual or unusual about Joe’s presentation,” Ms Ward said.

Elouise took her son to Northern Beaches Hospital, which had been operating as part of a public-private partnership between the NSW government and Healthscope, just after 7am on Saturday, September 14, 2024

The nature of this partnership, brought in by a previous Coalition state government, became a source of significant controversy as allegations of staffing and procedural issues surfaced following Joe’s death.

Between 7am and 10.47am, Joe’s condition rapidly deteriorated as his mother interacted with several nurses and doctors, each of whom are legally represented as part of the inquest, before he ultimately regressed into cardiac arrest.

The details of Elouise and Joe’s time in hospital and how the nurses and doctors responded to Joe’s condition during that period will be the subject of intense scrutiny throughout the coming week.

Originally published as Final hours of Joe Massa’s life outlined on day one of coronial inquest