The son of a woman arrested after allegedly turning off a fellow hospital patient's ventilator has spoken out.
Last month, a statement from a German public prosecutor's office revealed that a 72-year-old woman had been arrested for allegedly turning off a patient's ventilator on two occasions -- because she apparently didn't like the noise.
The statement reporting the alleged crime revealed that the woman was sharing a room with a 79-year-old patient at Mannheim's Diako Hospital in southwest Germany. As a result of the other patient's medical condition, they were reliant on a mechanical oxygen supply via a ventilator.
But police say that the 72-year-old woman - named as Hatun C. - switched off the ventilator just before 8:00PM on the evening of November 29 because she had become annoyed by the noise it was making.
And even after the hospital staff informed her that the patient - named as Hilal K. - depended on the ventilator, the woman once again turned the machine off around an hour later that same evening.
As a result, staff had to administer emergency resuscitation to the patient.
Tragically, Hilal K. later died from oxygen starvation complications.
Nevertheless, the 72-year-old woman was subsequently arrested on suspicion of attempted manslaughter and placed in a correctional facility while awaiting trial.
Now, Hatun C.'s son - 41-year-old Aydin C. - has told German media that his mother had struggled to "close her eyes because the oxygen device of her bed neighbor made such a loud noise", per the Daily Mail.
Describing the noise as being like that of "a tractor", the son added: "She was exhausted and high on medication. But she didn't want to harm the woman. It was an act of desperation.
"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."
The son then admitted that he is concerned that his mother is going to die in prison.
Explaining that his mother cannot read or write and only understands Turkish, the son says it would have been impossible for his mother to understand the instructions from the German hospital staff. Aydin C. argued that if his mother fully understood the function of the machine, she would "never have done something like this."
He then argued that staff should have either moved his mother to a different room or that his family should have been informed so that they could have intervened.
If Hatun C. is found guilty, she faces years in prison. An investigation is still ongoing.
According to Allina Health, some patients will pass away within minutes of turning off life support, while others may breathe on their own for hours or even days.
As the patient loses consciousness, they can experience what is often referred to as a death rattle - when mucous and saliva build up in the patient's throat. A rattling sound can occur when the patient loses the ability to clear their throat or swallow.
