Three years ago, Wodonga boy Jai Coomber was a picture of health, "a football star in his own little way".
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Today, bound to a wheelchair, "reduced to a thin, frail boy", he struggles with basic tasks like using the toilet and eating.
Now 14-years-old, Jai's health journey took a drastic turn following his appendix removal at Albury hospital in April 2021.
During the procedure he contracted two infections - which his mother says Albury hospital "would not treat" - triggering a cascade of debilitating symptoms including incontinence, severe abdominal pain and reduced mobility.
Doctors have told Jai it is all in his head, his family says. Yet, his physical symptoms remain to this day.
I want to eat, I want to have fun, run and be a kid again. It's just stupid that you think I want to be like this.
- Jai Coomber
Jai's mother, Kathryn Flanders, has described his treatment at Albury hospital and Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital as "disgraceful".
Both hospitals declined to comment when contacted by The Border Mail.
Ms Flanders is a mother to four children and a full-time carer to Jai and her other son Beau, 11, who has autism.
Seemingly shunned by the NDIA, threatened with eviction from her rental, Ms Flanders now wants to reveal Jai's struggle through the medical system.
"I don't want any other parent to have to sit there and watch what he's had to go through," she said.
"I feel like the world's against us, and I'm just one person."
'They called security on me'
Jai was admitted to Albury hospital on April 15, 2021, following complaints of stomach pain.
That night, he went under the knife to have his appendix removed. The next morning, back at home, Ms Flanders said Jai was struck down with "uncontrollable" diarrhea and vomiting.
Ms Flanders said she called the hospital and was told it was probably just a reaction to the antibiotics. Symptoms persisted. She called again and was told all was fine. Symptoms persisted. Again she was turned away. Symptoms persisted.
Finally, after ringing the 1800-Doctors line, he returned to hospital where they took a fecal sample and was monitored overnight, but was sent home "before the doctors received the results of the tests".
Jai had contracted Campylobacter and C Diff, which subsequently caused gastroenteritis.
He returned to Albury hospital where "they let him sit in the waiting room with this tummy bug, the two of them, and just use the normal bathroom which everybody else was using".
Ms Flanders said the hospital declined treatment, saying the infections would run their course. A week later, with the infections showing no signs of improvement, Ms Flanders took Jai to their family GP and he sent them to Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.
After four days in Melbourne, the doctors echoed those in Albury, saying there was nothing they could do.
"He was just so limp," Ms Flanders said.
"Within the first two weeks, he had 90 per cent muscle loss. But they kept telling me there was nothing wrong with him."
The fact that they think I want to be like this is messed up.
- Jai Coomber
About four weeks post-surgery, Ms Flanders said Jai deteriorated rapidly.
"I finally got him into emergency and the nurse came up to me and went, 'his heart rate's at 30bpm' (due to refeeding syndrome)," she said.
"They admitted him, finally, in the children's ward."
Ms Flanders said when she failed to get answers to her questions from a paediatrician, she demanded her son be transferred to Melbourne.
"Well, then they called security on me."
Albury Wodonga Health was contacted for comment by The Border Mail, but said the service didn't speak on individual cases.
'He was faking his illness'
Jai checked into Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital on May 10, 2021, where he stayed on and off for 18 months.
After multiple tests, doctors found no cause for the illness, and the running diagnosis was a mental disorder called somatisation - where mental factors such as stress cause physical symptoms.
Therefore, Jai's treatment involved ignoring his protests of pain.
Ms Flanders and her uncle Terry Flanders, the closest thing Jai has to a father, accepted the diagnosis.
"These discussions took place at Jai's bedside and as you can imagine an 11-year-old is capable of understanding what those conversations meant," Mr Flanders said.
"He was (thought to be) faking his illness."
They say stop (crying) there's nothing wrong with you when the pain is really bad.
- Jai Coomber
At this time, the symptoms included vomiting, loose stools, and severe abdominal pain which reduced his tolerance for food and drink.
He commenced nasogastric feeds at this time.
"He was on the nasogastric feed 24 hours a day, and still losing weight," Ms Flanders said.
"He can't keep it in - vomiting everything back out - but again, we were told there was nothing wrong with him."
Days, weeks, and months went on without any significant sign of improvement.
A central feeding line was inserted to allow nourishment to be provided. However, Jai developed an infection and the feeding tube was removed in May/June 2022 to allow his body to heal. He went home.
Jai lost weight during this time as he was unable to eat and could only take small amounts of liquid.
Over the next four to six weeks, Ms Flanders said attempts to readmit Jai to the children's hospital to be reintubated were cancelled.
She complained that rather than Jai's doctors calling the shots, it appeared to be the administration staff.
"We were trying to get him to eat, but nothing could go down, and it kept coming out," she said.
"He went from 50 kilograms down to 40. His heart nearly stopped."
'They rang the hospital and said, go, go now'
Ms Flanders said on July 2, 2022, an agent of child protective services knocked on her door following a call from the children's hospital saying Ms Flanders was mistreating Jai and not feeding him.
Jai's next readmission date was set for July 14, but the hospital again cancelled.
"I rang child protective services and said, 'the hospital has cancelled'," Ms Flanders said.
"Now you do your goddamn job and you get my son into a hospital. If not, I'm driving to Sydney to get him in somewhere else because he needs help.
"They rang the hospital and said, 'go, go now'."
They say I have an eating disorder when I love food and want to get better.
- Jai Coomber
Jai was reintubated and was given bolus feed through the tube. He continued to complain of stomach pain and reflux.
During this period, he did not evacuate his bowels or bladder consistently given the amount of food (through the tube) he was ingesting.
Ms Flanders said hospital staff locked the bathroom doors on her and believed she was hiding his fecal matter, urine and vomit.
"I couldn't leave the hospital with him because they'd made this whole thing that it was me making him sick," she said.
Jai was discharged and began to get better. Then he started choking.
Ms Flanders said an X-ray revealed his feeding tube had been misaligned by eight centimetres, cutting into his oesophagus.
"He ended up having an ulcer, which is why he couldn't eat," she said.
"They were feeding him bolus feeds into his oesophagus and he was screaming in pain and they said, 'his pain is just all in his head'."
By this time, Ms Flanders said Jai had had enough and refused to let doctors treat him.
"He said (to the doctors), 'I don't want you to touch me. I don't want the tube out. I don't want any more tests. I'm done'," Ms Flanders said.
A report by pediatrician Deena Parbhoo dated February 2, 2023, said Jai had "medical trauma related to prolonged hospital admission and invasive procedures".
"After 18 months of medical treatment, with associated uncertainty and uncomfortable symptoms, likely there have been traumatic elements for Jai," the report said.
'His knees are so fused that no rehab is working'
Jai was initially admitted to an adolescent ward that treated young people with eating disorders.
Ms Flanders said other patients were socialised, educated and had a shared space, while Jai was isolated in his room.
She said Jai did not receive physiotherapy, rehabilitation exercises and despite his mental disorder, did not receive psychiatric help.
"They've left him for so long that now his knees are so fused that no rehab is working on them," she said.
In the coming weeks, Jai will have a catheter permanently inserted to help empty his bladder as his lower muscles have become too weak due to lack of use.
His family said upon Jai's final discharge from the Royal Children's Hospital in September 2022, he received no medical support or treatment plan, leaving Ms Flanders fully responsible.
Mr Flanders said he made a formal complaint to the Royal Children's Hospital about Jai's experience whilst in their care. He said he hasn't received a response to the investigation.
When contacted by The Border Mail, the Royal Children's Hospital said the hospital did not comment on individual cases.
"The RCH takes complaints and concerns about care seriously," it said.
"We review all feedback we receive from patients and families to ensure the care and experience they receive meets our own high expectations.
"We have met with Jai Coomber's family in response to their feedback on several occasions to discuss their concerns."
'The gaslighting, the endless gaslighting'
Jai's NDIA application has been stuck in the system for years with little progress, according to his family.
It has been pushed back multiple times as he doesn't have a clear diagnosis, despite multiple letters from doctors, hospital staff and school teachers supporting his case.
Jai has missed years of school - being home schooled by his mother - and can only return with a carer by his side.
When contacted by The Border Mail about the delay, the NDIA said "the agency has been in contact with Jai's family this week and continues to assist them with their current application".
For Jai, his medical journey is not over - he still can't walk, urinate, empty his bowels and he struggles to ingest food and liquid.
Ms Flanders and her four children now face possible eviction from her rental property as the landlord is looking to sell.
Her job is full-time carer for her sons Jai and Beau. Without NDIA support, she fears her family will be forced to live on the street.
"I want to get our story out there to warn people, so they don't have to go through what we have," she said.
"As a loving, caring mum, my heart is broken at what Jai has been through.
... and the gaslighting, the endless gaslighting."