One-Year-Old Boy Gets Punched In Face Inside Emergency Room; Parents Sue Hospital

A Pennsylvania couple is suing a hospital after their one-year-old child got punched by another patient inside the emergency room.

The Miller family of Butler County has filed a lawsuit against Butler Memorial Hospital for failing to protect their child who got punched in the face by a patient, identified as Elijah Flick-Geibel, reported CBS Pittsburg.

The family dropped charges against Flick-Geibel as he is dealing with mental health issues. The lawsuit claims the hospital failed to protect them. "There was a time in between that this could’ve been stopped," Kelly Miller told the news outlet.

According to Kelly, she took her son to the emergency room last month to get stitches. While waiting for him to be treated, Flick-Geibel chased them before punching the baby on his face with the fist. Miller tried to get away and screamed for help.

"It was just me and my son, with (the patient) coming at us without help," Miller told WPXI. “I felt really alone in that situation."

Police said Flick-Geibel also fought with a hospital employee and security before being restrained. He was being admitted to the hospital involuntarily as a psychiatric patient.

According to a mental health worker assisting Flick-Geibel, he was triggered by the baby and the loud noises the child was making.

However, Kelly thinks the hospital could have done something. "One-hundred percent they could have stopped this from happening, especially him hitting my child," Miller said. "It went too far."

The couple’s attorney said the hospital staff had experience with Flick-Geibel.

"One of the more disturbing aspects of this—the hospital staff knew about this guy," attorney Al Lindsay told WPIX. "This is not his first rodeo. He’d been there and had such conflicts with the staff and mental health unit."

The complaint also states that when Kelly screamed for help in the emergency room, nobody came to her aid until hospital staff, not security, restrained Flick-Geibel.

Kelly's husband Jermaine told CBS Pittsburg that she and the baby are recovering from the attack, but there is trauma.

The Butler Memorial Hospital did not comment on the litigation.

Flick-Geibel is currently lodged at Butler County Prison. He was charged and had his preliminary hearing Thursday but the judge threw out the most serious charge of aggravated assault.