Inset: Annessa Stahlman (Bedford County Prison). Background: Breezewood Proving Grounds in Clearville, Pennsylvania, where Stahlman’s son reportedly fell off his ATV (Google Maps).
Officials in Pennsylvania say a mother refused to seek specialized medical care for her 11-year-old son after he suffered a serious head injury in a fall off an ATV.
Now the woman, 44-year-old Annessa Stahlman, is facing charges of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person, court records say.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by local CBS affiliate WTAJ, the boy was at the Breezewood Proving Grounds in Clearville, which is some 130 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, on April 13 when he fell off his ATV and hit his head. Stahlman reportedly took the boy to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Bedford, where staff diagnosed him with a brain bleed prevalent in children.
Doctors urged the mother to allow medical personnel to airlift the boy to a children’s hospital in Pittsburgh, but she refused and signed the boy out of the hospital against medical advice, the affidavit reportedly said. Once they got into her car, she allegedly removed the IV and neck brace, again going against the doctor’s orders to have him wear the brace until seeing a specialist, the affidavit said. She was also reportedly told to have the boy refrain from physical activity for about three months.
Instead of driving the boy to the children’s hospital, she reportedly sent her son to school the next day. The boy complained of a headache and vomited twice in the nurse’s office, the affidavit reportedly said. He was then airlifted to the children’s hospital in Pittsburgh. Cops also noted that the boy’s father was kept in the dark about his condition.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers arrested Stahlman on May 15. She remains in the Bedford County Jail on a $150,000 bond. Her next court date is scheduled for May 28. She did not have an attorney listed.
