According to officials in Pennsylvania, a mother refused to seek specialized medical care for her 11-year-old son after he suffered a serious head injury in a fall from an ATV.
Annessa Stahlman, 44, is now charged with endangering children’s welfare and recklessly endangering another person, according to court records.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by local CBS affiliate WTAJ, the boy was at the Breezewood Proving Grounds in Clearville, approximately 130 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, on April 13 when he fell off his ATV and struck his head.
Stahlman reportedly took the boy to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Bedford, where staff diagnosed him with a common childhood brain bleed.
Doctors urged the mother to allow medical personnel to airlift the boy to a children’s hospital in Pittsburgh, but she refused and signed him out against medical advice, according to the affidavit.
When they got into her car, she allegedly removed the IV and neck brace, violating the doctor’s orders to keep him wearing the brace until he saw a specialist, according to the affidavit. She was also reportedly told to keep the boy out of physical activity for about three months.
Instead of driving him to the children’s hospital, she reportedly sent him to school the following day. According to the affidavit, the boy vomited twice in the nurse’s office after complaining of a headache. He was then airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Cops also reported that the boy’s father was kept in the dark about his condition.
On May 15, troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police arrested Stahlman. She remains in Bedford County Jail on a $150,000 bond. Her next court date is set for May 28. She didn’t have an attorney listed.
