7 days ago
Inquest told Tristian Frahm likely would have survived snakebite if treated
The mother of an 11-year-old Queensland boy who died from a snakebite wants a full review of her son's case after medical experts told a coronial inquest he would have likely survived if he had been taken to a hospital for treatment.
Tristian James Frahm, 11, died at a Murgon property, three hours north of Brisbane, on November 21, 2021.
Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard has spent two days in Toowoomba Coroners Court examining the events leading up to Tristian's death and the public awareness of snakebite symptoms and first aid treatments.
Forensic pathologist Christopher Day, who performed Tristian's autopsy, told the inquest on Tuesday the cause of death was hypertension, brought on by snake envenomation, which led to blood pooling in his abdomen and cardiac arrest.
Dr Day said there was no sign of alcohol in Tristian's blood, despite his father Kerrod Frahm previously telling the inquest he suspected his son may have been intoxicated after possibly taking bourbon cans from an esky.
Dr Day said it was possible Tristian did not have an immediate and obvious reaction to the snake bite.
"Children are reasonably resilient; they can look reasonably well until something catastrophic happens," he said.
The inquest was told on Monday that Tristian was checked for a possible snakebite but there were no obvious signs, and that Mr Frahm said he was not aware of reports his son had been bitten.
When asked whether there would have been clear signs of a snakebite, Dr Day said the two puncture marks from a brown snake "would have been present immediately".
"The bruising around the [ankle] would not have been apparent immediately, it would have developed over the course of the envenomation," he said.
But Mark Little, a Cairns Hospital emergency physician and toxicologist who appeared via video link, told the inquest that a snakebite was usually "insignificant or just a mark" and not always obvious.
"Everyone thinks if you've bitten by a snakebite there will be two fang marks," Dr Little said.
"We've seen people with no obvious mark or just scratch [and] if the person didn't say 'I got bitten' and pointed where that scratch is, you would think it's just a scratch.
"There can also be no symptoms, it can only be a mark or scratch or nothing."
Dr Little agreed when asked by counsel assisting the coroner, Sarah Ford, that it could be "plausible" nobody who checked Tristian for possible snakebites could have found anything.
Dr Little said Tristian "should have survived" had he been taken to a hospital.
"There are very rare cases of intra-abdominal bleeding due to envenom, but as long as it was recognised [in hospital], I would expect him to survive," he said.
Associate Professor Katherine Isodardi, the director of clinical toxicology unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, said while "it's not an absolute certain", she would also expect Tristian to have survived if he had reached medical treatment.
"You don't usually die from an Australian snakebite, you usually die from sudden collapse and cardiac arrest," Dr Isodardi said.
Outside of the court, Tristian's mother, Shanade Zaulich, said she hoped the inquest would provide her family with long-awaited answers after "four long and painful years".
"As Tristian's maternal family, we continue to be haunted by basic and deeply troubling questions about the circumstances surrounding his death," Ms Zaulich said.
She said she wanted the case to be fully reviewed "and properly investigated".
"Four years is too long to wait for answers," she said.
Mr Frahm had previously been charged with the manslaughter of Tristian.
That charge was dropped by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in April last year.
Mr Frahm's lawyer, Andrew Bale, said his client hoped through the inquest, everyone could find space to grieve.
"He [Mr Frahm] knows with the benefit of hindsight, of course, he would have taken Tristian to the hospital," Mr Bale said.
"Unfortunately none of the symptoms that Tristian was showing were actually clear evidence that he'd [been] bitten by a snake and no-one knew he had.
"There was no sign he had [which] is why this is such a tragedy and with the benefit of hindsight, things would have been different."
