‘Shattered’: Parents sue Piedmont after ant-bitten child dies in hospital

“We will never be the same again, without Maya,” Hundie said Tuesday. “I’m shattered, to say the least.”

Hundie said Maya was a sweet, loving, cheeky and adventurous little girl who loved life.

“She was always happy. She loved to play, to be around people,” Hundie said. “Every day for her was an adventurous day.”

A representative of Piedmont did not immediately respond Tuesday to an inquiry about the case, filed in Gwinnett County State Court.

Attorney Lloyd Bell, who represents Hundie and Birhanu, said Maya suffered a preventable and tragic death.

“No family should ever experience the heartbreak of losing a child due to a hospital’s lack of preparation, especially for something as foreseeable as an allergic reaction,” Bell said. “Our goal is to obtain full justice for Maya and help ensure that what happened to Maya never happens to another child.”

According to the lawsuit, Maya was bitten by fire ants in the family’s front yard about 30 minutes before she and her parents arrived at the Piedmont hospital in Snellville. Maya was wheezing and had a rash and labored breathing, according to the suit.

Hundie and Birhanu claim Salazar, the emergency physician assigned to care for Maya, waited just over 20 minutes before giving her epinephrine, a drug used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions.

A doctor and nurse not involved in Maya’s care swore in affidavits attached to the lawsuit that she should have immediately received epinephrine at the hospital. They said the delay violated the required standard of care.

“Maya required immediate medical attention, including the rapid administration of epinephrine to halt the allergic response,” the complaint says.

Maya’s parents further allege that Salazar gave the child paralytic drugs in an attempt to intubate her, then realized the hospital did not have the equipment needed to intubate a young child. This was a fatal error, they claim.

“Maya’s parents looked on helplessly as their daughter slowly died from lack of oxygen,” the complaint says.

In a news release, Bell said Maya’s death was “100% preventable.”

“If only the hospital staff had promptly administered epinephrine, Maya would still be alive,” he said. “If only the hospital had the proper equipment to intubate a child, Maya would still be alive. The failures at Piedmont Eastside, from delayed treatment to inadequate resources, were not only negligent but inexcusable.”

Bell, who leads a medical malpractice law firm in Atlanta, told the AJC that Hundie and Birhanu have received a tremendous amount of support from people in their community since Maya’s death.

Bell said he has two other, unrelated medical malpractice cases in which Salazar is a defendant.

In one of those cases, Salazar and others are accused of failing to give adequate emergency care to a 53-year-old man at the now-closed Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center after he had been in a car wreck in December 2021. The man died from oxygen deprivation at the hospital, according to the lawsuit, which is pending in Cobb County State Court.

Salazar and the other parties in the case asked the court in March to extend the time in which they can exchange relevant information and evidence. They have until Nov. 24 to do so.

In the other case, Salazar and others were accused of failing to promptly recognize and treat a woman’s stroke symptoms at the Atlanta Medical Center in 2013, leading to the woman’s permanent disability from a massive stroke. The claims against Salazar were tried in 2024, when a Cobb County jury found in Salazar’s favor.

The plaintiffs in that case are appealing the defense verdict, Bell said. He said the other defendants in the case settled before trial.

Salazar’s medical license is up for renewal in June, according to the Georgia Composite Medical Board.