A Howick mother, whose special needs son died in hospital after being attacked by their neighbour’s dogs in 2015, has told a court that he “fought to live from the day he was born”.
An inquest trial to establish whether or not anyone could be held liable for the eight-year-old’s death got under way in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, when Estelle Sinkins recounted the multiple surgeries and procedures her little James – who had two heart conditions, a cleft in his soft palate and scoliosis – endured during his short life. His medical issues were not just physical: James struggled to control his emotions, he was hyperactive, he suffered with attention-deficit disorder and he could not speak.
But, Sinkins said, he was making progress.
She and her husband, Graydon, had not known what the future held for their son and they were worried.
“But one thing he never lacked was love,” Sinkins said.“Perhaps what makes his death and the manner of it, so hard to cope with, is that he fought to live from the day he was born and he tried so hard to live after he was attacked. Sadly he lost that battle and we lost our beautiful boy,” she said.
Sinkins choked back tears as she detailed the events leading up to her son’s death. She tried to intervene when the cross-German shepherds dragged him off his bicycle and tore into him, but it was too late. She broke down when she recalled being told he was dead. After a sleepless night at his side, her family convinced Sinkins to go home and rest. A few hours later, Graydon phoned her and told her to come back because James was in trouble.
“We were taken into a room where doctors told us they had done everything they could but James had died,” she said.
The desperation in her voice on Tuesday, provided a glimpse into what must have been going through her mind then. She ran to her son.
“I took his body into my arms, didn’t want to let him go. I made the staff remove the breathing tube and I dressed him in his own clothes. Eventually I was dragged away by Graydon and my sister,” she said.
Later she returned to his side to give him one last kiss goodbye. “I told him I would love him forever.”
After James’ death, the dogs were removed and euthanised.
But a year before, they attacked and killed the Sinkinses’ family dog and Sinkins told her neighbour then that she was worried for her son’s safety.
“I stated that if they came across him they would in all probability kill him,” she said.
Sinkins did not want this to happen to anyone else.
“I do not wish another mother or father or grandparent to have to endure the pain we’ve had to endure. I hope and pray if this does nothing else, it tells people who own a dog that it doesn’t matter what breed it is, you have a responsibility to make sure your dog does not pose a danger to others,” she said.
The inquest is expected to continue on Wednesday.
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