Noah Souvatzis was holidaying with his parents in Myrtleford in Victoria’s north-east on December 29, 2021, when he developed a high fever and started vomiting.
His parents Ben and Steph took him to an urgent care centre in town, with a nurse at the Alpine Health facility noting symptoms of lethargy and increased heart rate.
Noah was taken to the Wangaratta Hospital on the nurse’s advice, where doctor Paul Bumford diagnosed him with gastro and discharged him three hours later.
The boy was eventually flown to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.
At 3.11pm on December 30, Noah was declared brain dead and he died the next day.
Coroner Katherine Lorenz delivered her findings into Noah’s death today.
She found his death was preventable and Wangaratta Hospital did not provide him with appropriate care when he was first admitted into the emergency department.
Noah’s parents cried as the findings were handed down.
