Colin Firth Takes connected Complex True Crime Role successful The Staircase

Did accusations of kid maltreatment lead to Beata Kowalski's suicide?

That question was explored successful the Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya, and a assemblage has since determined that the Florida hospital where the accusations against Beata originated played a relation successful her death.

Attorneys for Beata's family, including her now-17-year-old daughter Maya Kowalski, argued during an eight-week trial that Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital successful St. Petersburg "falsely imprisoned and battered" Maya—and that being separated from her kid for 87 days nether a unreality of suspicion ultimately drove Beata to take her ain life.

Maya cried arsenic the verdict was work connected Nov. 9, the determination livestreamed on Court TV. Agreeing that the infirmary was liable for wrongful imprisonment, battery, medical negligence and infliction of affectional distress, the six-person assemblage awarded the Kowalskis more than $261 million, including $50 cardinal successful punitive damages.

"It feels truly bully to yet person an reply to this tribunal case," Maya said connected NewsNation's Cuomo the adjacent day. "No magnitude of wealth volition ever regenerate my mom, so, honestly, we were conscionable blessed to get a yes. We were blessed to person our prayers answered." 

One of the family's attorneys, Nick Whitney, said the infirmary failed to support Maya from "inside abusers."

"They decided that her illness was a charade," Whitney told NewsNation, "they told her that her parent had a intelligence illness, they interfered with telephone calls, they did everything they could to victimize this miss wrong of the infirmary implicit those 3 months."

But however did a 2016 sojourn to the exigency country crook into a nightmare for the Kowalski family?

What happened to Maya Kowalski?

In the summertime of 2015, then-9-year-old Maya started experiencing breathing problems, headaches and blurred vision, her begetter Jack Kowalski recalled successful Take Care of Maya. Her feet started to constituent inward and she said her tegument felt similar it was connected fire.

Maya saw a fig of doctors, nary of whom gave them a definitive reply arsenic to what was incorrect with her, Jack said. Beata—who is seen and heard successful the movie successful recordings—documented each visit. She yet recovered a specializer who diagnosed Maya with analyzable determination symptom syndrome (CRPS), a uncommon neurological disorder.

In November 2015, Maya underwent an experimental attraction successful Monterrey, Mexico, that entailed her being sedated for 5 days while she was fixed high-dose ketamine infusions.

Sitting for a deposition successful her family's suit against Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in October 2021, Maya remembered feeling amended aft coming retired of the alleged "ketamine coma."

"The ketamine helped maine tremendously with my pain," she said, per video of the deposition shown in Take Care of Maya. "I had a small spot of short-term representation nonaccomplishment and sometimes things were truly blurry with my vision, but I was consenting to person those broadside effects if it was going to assistance maine overall."

Maya remained connected low-dose ketamine infusions erstwhile they returned location to Venice, Fla., Jack said successful the film, and she felt steadily amended for astir a year.

But successful the aboriginal greeting hours of Oct. 7, 2016, Maya woke up with terrible tummy pain, Jack recalled. The retired firefighter took her to All Children's Hospital portion Beata, a location wellness nurse, was inactive astatine work.

Once Jack got to the hospital, helium said, helium got his woman connected the telephone truthful she could talk to the doctors successful the pediatric E.R.

A pediatric cardiac ICU doc testified successful a video deposition, shown successful the Netflix film, that they gave Maya a debased dosage of ketamine, but aft a fewer days they didn't consciousness it was helping and they questioned the CPRS diagnosis. Maya's parents were talking astir taking her home, the doc continued, and that's erstwhile helium "started feeling unsafe" astir the child's situation.

A doctor who worked for a private social-welfare company servicing Pinellas County (Florida privatized its child-welfare strategy successful 2004) was called successful to consult connected Maya's case. That doc filed a report connected Oct. 13, 2016, detailing her diagnosis of Munchausen by proxy—a intelligence upset that manifests successful a caretaker intentionally sickening, injuring oregon creating the quality of wellness problems successful a dependent, usually a child.

What happened to Beata Kowalski?

As portion of the maltreatment investigation, Beata underwent a court-ordered intelligence valuation conducted by a licensed psychologist, according to The Cut. The results elaborate successful a Dec. 5, 2016, study shown successful the documentary stated that the evaluator had been fixed "no grounds that would enactment the decision that Beata has falsified her daughter's aesculapian condition."

Munchausen by proxy "may safely beryllium ruled out," the study continued, per The Cut. But arsenic seen successful the doc, the scientist stated successful the study that Beata "displayed an agitated temper erstwhile discussing Maya's being sheltered and the allegations that had been made against her."

Audio clips of Jack and Beata arguing over her persistent calls to the infirmary successful October 2016 were played in Take Care of Maya.

"Our household was falling apart," Jack recalled in the film. He could beryllium heard shouting astatine Beata to halt interfering, that helium wanted to spot his girl again and she was "harassing" the nurses. Maya's younger brother, Kyle, was besides heard connected the signaling successful the doc asking his mom to delight bash what dada wanted.

At a presumption proceeding on Jan. 6, 2017, arsenic heard successful a recording, the dependency tribunal justice denied a petition from the Kowalskis' lawyer that Maya beryllium allowed to spot her ma "just momentarily" for a hug.

"I'm acrophobic not," the justice said. "Not today."

Two days later, Beata died by suicide. She was 43.

What did the infirmary accidental successful its defence astir the attraction of Maya Kowalski?

The hospital's attorneys maintained that the staff followed the instrumentality and was abiding by an bid from the authorities for the 92 days Maya was successful their care. (Before the proceedings began, the justice ruled that the infirmary couldn't beryllium blamed for the determination to interaction societal services successful the archetypal spot oregon for pursuing the structure order.) 

"The coward's mode retired is to fto [Maya and her parents] leave," lawyer Ethan Shapiro said, per the Tampa Bay Times. "People who attraction astir children bash not fto that kid locomotion retired the doorway without talking to the family."

He reiterated to the New York Times after the assemblage delivered its verdict that doctors astatine the hospital made "a tenable suspicion of aesculapian kid abuse. It is not All Children's Hospital that is obstructing visitation."

Shapiro said helium expected the appeal process to get underway by the extremity of this twelvemonth oregon successful aboriginal 2024 and nary damages would beryllium paid until the process was complete.

How is Maya Kowalski doing today?

A information of Maya's instrumentality to his care, Jack noted in the Netflix doc, was that she could no longer person ketamine treatments. But she began intensive carnal therapy and, aft astir 18 months, she was capable to get astir connected crutches aft spending years successful a wheelchair. In 2019, she started walking connected her ain again.

Maya had placed archetypal successful a figure-skating tourney successful March 2022 and was participating in Duke University's Talent Identification Program for talented kids, according to The Cut.

"I bash my champion to propulsion through," Maya told People in June. "I've already missed a lot, truthful I privation to marque the astir of beingness now."

Jack said successful the film, "We are trying to bash the champion we can. But the kids volition ne'er beryllium the same. It's precise hard to recognize what went done Beata's mind, reasoning that was the lone mode to get her girl out. I miss her dearly, but I person choler present and there."

After the assemblage decided successful her family's favour this month, Maya said that she felt the ineligible triumph would "mean everything" to her mother.

"My ma was the benignant of person, erstwhile she was right, she was gonna beryllium it," the teen said connected Cuomo. "Unfortunately, she's not present to transportation that out, but we are present and we carried it retired and we proved her right."