Mother of dead 20-day-old baby fed with ethanol vows to fight for justice

Gunes Toymuradov, the mother of 20-day-old Mihrimah Toymuradov, who died after being fed formula mistakenly mixed with ethanol while being treated on the neonatal intensive care ward of the Lefkosa emergency hospital, on Saturday pledged to fight for justice for her daughter.

Speaking publicly for the first time since her daughter’s death, she said, “every day I try to stay on my feet, telling myself that I have to fight for my daughter and for the other babies, and I have to be strong,” referring to the other six babies who were also fed ethanol on the ward.

“I open my eyes with the hope of finding justice, and with the hope that we will hear good news from the other babies,” she said.

On the matter of her baby’s death and the ongoing inquest, she said, “every day I hear about different things happening to my daughter. I am a mother, I cannot stand this. What do you mean my baby’s lungs burst? … I cannot understand … She is as big as my hand.”

“Justice will be served, but you will also find it from your god. You will crawl, and I will live for those days. God willing, you will see the fire of hell in this world because of the remorse of your conscience. This is a mother’s curse. Whoever else, I do not know, whatever else happened to my child, my curse will be with you for the rest of your life,” she said.

Toymuradov’s comments come after it was heard in court that “more than one water bottle” was found in the place ethanol was being stored, that only the bottles which contained ethanol was labelled in any way, and that even these labels were only handwritten.

The Turkish Cypriot police have now also confirmed which of the five hospital workers who were arrested put the ethanol in the kettle to boil, and which of the five had fed the baby using the ethanol.

Questions remain over whether the actual cause of Mihrimah Toymuradov’s death was the ethanol or a ventilator which was allegedly faulty or connected incorrectly, with investigations into the matter ongoing.

The other six babies remain alive and in hospital, while accusations remain to be answered by the north’s ‘health minister’ Hakan Dincyurek.

He was reported to the police over Mihrimah Toymuradov’s death, with it having been alleged that the incident was “concealed for a long time”.

Cyprus Turkish nurses’ and midwives’ union chairman Ibrahim Ozgocmen had said earlier in the week that nurses the hospital had suggested informing the families of the situation when it first came to light, but that Dincyurek “did not find this appropriate”.

Ozgocmen had rubbished Dincyurek’s claims on Sunday that he had not informed the babies’ families or the public for 30 hours after the baby died because the police would not allow him to do so, saying he had wanted to hide.

He added that the hospital is being operated in “an environment of chaos” and that doctors “are being forced to do many things outside their job description.”

“The whole order is broken. The health ministry is being run like a party building.”