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Pensioner who switched off patient’s oxygen machine twice was 'high' on meds and ‘meant no harm’

Hatun C, 73, is accused of having twice turned off the ventilator being used by 79-year-old Hilal K as 'she could not sleep due to the sound of the machine'

MANNHEIM, GERMANY: A pensioner who was arrested after she allegedly turned off a hospital roommate's ventilator because she did not like the sound it made "meant no harm" and was "high on medication," according to her son. However, the victim's family is having none of it.

Hatun C, 73, is accused of having twice turned off ther oxygen machine being used by 79-year-old Hilal K in the adjacent bed because she was annoyed by the noise. Medics at the Covid ward of Mannheim's Diako Hospital quickly revived Hilal after noticing her ventilator had been turned off for a second time. Unfortunately, she succumbed to complications stemming from oxygen starvation. 

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Authorities detained Hatun on suspicion of attempted manslaughter following the November 30, 2022, incident, but her son, 41-year-old Aydin C, told German media that she acted out of "desperation" after she was unable to sleep due to the sound of the machine. "My mother couldn't close her eyes there because the oxygen device of her bed neighbour made such a loud noise, like a tractor," Aydin insisted.

"She was exhausted and high on medication. But she didn't want to harm the woman. It was an act of desperation," he said, adding, "My mother worked as a toilet attendant for over 30 years, raised five children, and was never at fault. Now she is in prison as an old, frail woman with a serious heart condition. I'm afraid she'll die there. She had no idea what she was doing." The embattled son said his mother had been admitted to Mannheim hospital in a "miserable mental state" after contracting Covid-19 while on holiday in her native Turkey. As mentioned, the pensioner was arrested on November 30 for attempted manslaughter after hospital officials reported her actions to German police.

Hilal was reportedly hospitalized for atrial fibrillation, a condition that causes irregular heart rhythm, but she reportedly contracted Covid while in the hospital and had to be moved to the Covid wing and placed on a ventilator. Hospital staffers said they sternly warned Hatun after she turned off her ward mate's oxygen for the first time. Nonetheless, her son has claimed his mother wouldn't have understood what was told to her as she only spoke Turkish.

"My mother can neither read nor write, she only understands Turkish, how should she have understood this announcement by the German nurse? In addition, she has no idea about machines. Otherwise, she would never have done something like this," Aydin said, adding, "My mother should have been moved to another room, and at the very least, we should have been informed immediately, then it would never have come to this."

However, Aydin apologized to the victim's family. "I would like to apologize for all the suffering my mother brought to the 79-year-old's family. My mother herself was a victim of these intolerable circumstances in the clinic. She deeply regrets everything and asks for forgiveness," he said.

However, 48-year-old Sadet O, the deceased's daughter, said she can't "forgive" Hatun's actions. "That woman probably killed my mother. I can't forgive her for that," the heartbroken woman told German media. Post-mortem examinations on Hilal's brain are underway before coroners can determine Hatun's culpability in her death. The 72-year-old could spend several years behind bars if found guilty of attempted manslaughter, the Daily Mail reported.