(NewsNation) — A jury awarded the family of Maya Kowalski more than $261 million in a civil trial that alleged a hospital wrongly denied Kowalski’s mother access to her daughter over child abuse claims that turned out to be false.
After being away from her daughter for 87 days, Beata Kowalski killed herself.
The family sued Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, claiming their actions were responsible for Beata’s death, and a jury returned a verdict Thursday in favor of Maya.
“It feels really nice to finally have an answer to this court case,” Kowalski said Friday on “CUOMO.” “No amount of money will ever replace my mom, so honestly, we were just happy to get a yes. We were happy to have our prayers answered.”
Kowalski’s story began Oct. 7, 2016, when the then-10-year-old who suffers from complex regional pain syndrome was rushed to the hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to the family’s complaint. Kowalski was evaluated by a child-welfare agency doctor and subsequently remained in the hospital for three months under order from a court.
The family alleged in their complaint Kowalski was falsely imprisoned, isolated at the hospital, touched without her consent and had worsening symptoms. Family visits were also restricted.
“The hospital, although they had the ability to report child abuse, once Maya was in their custody, they failed to protect her from inside abusers, and there were social workers in particular that took advantage of Maya’s vulnerability,” attorney Nick Whitney said. “They decided that her disease was a charade, they told her that her mother had a mental illness, they interfered with phone calls, they did everything they could to victimize this girl inside of the hospital over those three months.”
Attorney Howard Hunter, who represented Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in this case, issued the following statement to NewsNation.
“The evidence clearly showed that Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital followed Florida’s mandatory reporting law in reporting suspected child abuse and, when those suspicions were confirmed by the district court, fully complied with Department of Children and Families (DCF) and court orders,” the statement read in part.
The Kowalskis story was first reported by The Cut last year and was later the subject of the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya.”
At the center of the case was Dr. Sally Smith, the former head of Pinellas County’s child protection team, FOX 13 reported. She was the one who urged doctor’s at the hospital to take a closer look at Maya’s mother, who the hospital staff claimed kept urging them to give Maya ketamine.
After months of being barred from seeing Maya, Beata was finally granted access Jan. 6, 2017, the New York Times reported. She killed herself less than 48 hours later.
Maya believes the verdict — $211 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages — would “mean everything” to her mother.
“My mom was the type of person, when she was right, she was gonna prove it,” Maya said. “Unfortunately, she’s not here to carry that out, but we are here and we carried it out and we proved her right.”
Maya still suffers from her chronic pain condition, and said the verdict finally gives her the ability to move forward with healing.
“I know that my mom … gave her life so I could have one, so I’m gonna focus on all the positives instead of the negatives attached to my disease,” she said. “I want to redirect my energy into moving forward, so focusing on physical therapy, my … doctors and also happiness — building relationships with friends and family.”
If you or a loved one are experiencing mental distress, please call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.