Pottstown Mother Speaks Out in Child Endangerment Case

The Pottstown mother who was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, after she and her husband removed their child from Lehigh Valley Hospital against medical advice, has gone on record as saying she was just trying to help her baby.

According to a report by the Pottstown Mercury, April Saul, 42, said she and her husband, Daniel Rivera, 43, only decided to remove their daughter after Lehigh Valley Hospital refused their repeated requests to have the child sent to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The report also states that the 5-month-old girl has a heart defect, and despite Lehigh Valley Hospital lacking the specialist required for her care, the hospital stated that they could not transfer her to CHOP because Medicaid would not pay for it.

“Danny and I pled, in meeting after meeting with Lehigh Valley, for months,” Saul said, in the Pottstown Mercury report. “We kept saying, ‘We feel as though you lack expertise. We feel as though our child has issues you can’t address. We want her transferred. What do we have to do to get our baby transferred?’ For months we were just getting the runaround. ... They were just completely uncooperative.”

The couple now faces charges of endangering the welfare of a child, as well as charges of disorderly conduct for allegedly using obscene language in the pediatric intensive care unit of LVH.

To read more of this story, visit the Pottstown Mercury.