Meet Josie King

Josie King was a little girl who loved to dance. She was 18 months old, had brown eyes and light brown hair, and she had just learned to say, “I love you.” In January of 2001 Josie stepped into a hot bath and burned herself badly. Her parents rushed her to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she was admitted into the pediatric intensive care unit. Much to her parents’ relief, Josie recovered quickly. She was transferred to the intermediate-care floor and was expected to be released within days.

But Josie’s mom noticed that something was wrong. “Every time she saw a drink, she would scream for it, and I thought this was strange. I was told not to let her drink. While a nurse and I gave her a bath, she sucked furiously on a washcloth.” Josie’s mom told the nurse Josie was thirsty, and asked her to call a doctor. The nurse assured her that everything was okay. She asked another nurse to check on Josie, but this nurse confirmed that everything was fine.