Before her arrest, UK nurse Lucy Letby was known as a dedicated healthcare professional, embodying the values of compassion and care that define the nursing profession. But since 2015 she has put the most compassionate profession into jeopardy.
According to reports, the 33-year-old NHS nurse is convicted of murdering seven newborns and attempting to kill another six. While the jury cleared her of two counts of attempted murder, they were unable to reach a verdict on six further attempted murder counts relating to five babies.
A journey of Letby's deeds
According to The Guardian, in June 2015 when three infants died all of a sudden while the fourth one’s health was declining it sent a air of worry. Reportedly, Letby injected air into an intravenous long line connected to one of the twin babies, born six weeks early. Despite various attempts, the baby died. This happened within 90 minutes of Letby coming on duty.
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The next day, the NHS nurse reportedly attacked the other twin, a girl. Right after Letby came on her shift, the infant fell sick suddenly with her skin changing color to odd purple and forming white patches. Something the hospital staff has seen the night before on her brother. However, the doctors were able to save the baby.
In the days after Letby attacked the twins, killing one of them, she went on to murder two more babies. There was a sudden collapse of the four-day-old boy and two-day-old girl. And both the babies were found with a strange discoloration of their skin.
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Lucy Letby’s covering-up act
After much investigation and following up on Letby’s tracks around the deads of babies in the neonatal unit, shocking details were unearthed. As per a report in The Guardian, it was discovered that “three of the four had been deliberately injected with air through an intravenous line into their bloodstream”.
It further reported that “the changing skin color, a phenomenon many consultants had never seen before, was a hallmark of her crimes, although nobody knew it at the time”.
The controversy surrounding Letby's actions and subsequent legal proceedings serve as a reminder of the significance of upholding ethical standards in healthcare. The trust patients place in medical professionals is immense, making ethical conduct an imperative pillar of the profession. Letby's case underscores the potential consequences of violating this trust.
