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'Take Care of Maya' trial: Internet heartbroken as Maya Kowalski blames herself for her mom's suicide

In a testimony, Maya Kowalski shared the emotional trauma she endured and grapples with amid the loss of her mother

MIAMI, FLORIDA: In a deeply distressing series of events, Maya Kowalski now 17 years old, finds herself at the center of a medical malpractice case that culminated in the devastating suicide of her mother Beata Kowalski. 

In a heart-wrenching testimony in court, she shared the emotional trauma she endured and grapples with amid the loss of her mother, burdened by a sense of self-blame, leaving netizens heartbroken. 

“I feel like if I let her think that I was doing okay that maybe she wouldn’t have taken the step of ending her life to get me out of there,” Maya said of her forced hospital stay, adding, “I feel like it’s my fault.”

What is the Maya Kowalski trial about?

Maya's family is currently suing Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St Petersburg for a staggering $220 million, claiming that she was wrongfully detained against her will and forcibly separated from her family for three agonizing months.

The case, which dates back to 2016 when Maya was just 10 years old, revolves around her admission to the hospital for severe pain.

Her mother, Beata, had informed the hospital that she was suffering from a rare neurological condition known as complex regional pain syndrome, and prior physicians had prescribed ketamine to alleviate her symptoms.

However, hospital staff grew increasingly skeptical of both Maya's physical complaints and her mother's unconventional treatment requests.

Eventually, they came to the alarming conclusion that Beata might be suffering from Munchausen by proxy syndrome, a condition in which caregivers feign a child's illness for attention.

In response, they prohibited Beata from seeing Maya and reported the situation to Florida child welfare authorities. As a result, Maya was made a ward of the state, and she endured a painful 87-day separation from her mother.

Tragically, Beata, facing child abuse charges and devastated by the separation from her daughter, took her own life by hanging herself in the family's garage in January 2017.

Unaware of her mother's suicide then, Maya testified this week about the emotional turmoil she experienced.

She recounted waking up around 2 am the next morning of her mother's suicide, crying and expressing her deep love and longing for her mother. Her testimony paints a devastating picture of the emotional toll this situation took on her.

What is the current status of the trial?

The case gained widespread attention and was the subject of the Netflix documentary 'Take Care of Maya,' which was released earlier this year.

On the stand, Maya, now a high school senior, tearfully shared her feelings of being perpetually endangered, even in her own home. She said, “In a lot of ways I still feel trapped in my 10 and 11 year old body. That’s where my head space has been living for the last six and half years.”

Maya's father, Jack Kowalski, initiated the $220 million lawsuit in 2018, citing false imprisonment, medical malpractice, and emotional distress.

However, the hospital's legal team has countered these claims, asserting that the medical staff had legitimate concerns about the treatments.

They argued that ketamine treatments carry significant risks, and Beata's request for high dosages raised red flags. They pointed out that a prior court had found that the hospital personnel acted out of genuine concern for Maya's well-being.

Outpouring support for Maya Kowalski

Internet users expressed empathy for Maya.

A user tweeted, "I hope they get some kind of justice. This was so sad."

Another said, "A child has no blame in such matters." A third tweeted, "This is so horrible! I cannot believe this was allowed to happen! I am a pediatric nurse and what was allowed to happen from this hospital was ridiculous!"

"Doesn’t seem like she wants to go to college at all right now!! She’s been through so much! Go travel Maya, get into a new environment, go explore, that’ll heal and help in many ways:)," read a tweet.