By Editor,Natasha Anderson

Copyright dailymail

A toddler has died after suffering a medical emergency at the dentist ahead of a simple operation to cap his teeth.

Shardé Sherrill and David Mitchell took their son Er’mias, two, to Valleygate Dental Surgery Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, for treatment on July 17.

An ambulance transported the young boy to a nearby hospital roughly 40 minutes after the dental team took him in for the procedure, WXII reports.

Sherill and Mitchell allege they were not informed of any complications until he was already en route to the hospital without them.

The parents claim nurses told them the boy’s lungs had collapsed, despite Er’mias having passed health checks at Valleygate that very morning.

Sherill and Mitchell drove 30 minutes to the hospital to find their son, but by the time they arrived it was too late to say goodbye.

They are now demanding accountability from Valleygate in Er’mias’ death and what they said were ‘unethical’ actions taken by staff.

But Valleygate boss Virginia Jones appears to have dismissed their claims, stating in a letter obtained by WBTV that ‘we do not yet know what caused Er’mias’ tragedy’ and adding that staff ‘did everything they could’.

Jones acknowledged in her letter that although it is ‘exceedingly rare, unexpected events can occur, even under the most carefully controlled circumstances’.

‘The medical, dental, nursing, EMS, and hospital staff who responded to Er’mias did so with professionalism and did everything they could to prevent this tragedy,’ she wrote.

‘In the urgency of the situation, our focus was solely on providing care. We regret that this prevented us from notifying his family sooner and recognize how painful that delay was.’

The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners, which was probing the child’s death, closed its investigation this week.

Officials found that no dental procedures had been performed before Er’mias died, WXII reported Wednesday.

The board also determined that no Valleygate dentists or dental personnel had been involved in administering anesthesia or sedation to the toddler.

Those services were instead performed by other licensed medical professionals.

Sherill, in a post on her Facebook page, confirmed the board’s findings, alleging the family was told the ‘complications happened after he was given anesthesia’ and when the ‘anesthesiologist started to intubate him’.

She says they are still waiting on Er’mias’ autopsy results.

The family held a protest outside Valleygate’s Greensboro facility last week as they demanded answers in his death.

‘There is no reason why they didn’t notify Er’mias Dad & I right away of what happened to our baby boy,’ Sherill posted in the lead-up to the demonstration.

‘Instead they waited almost an hour to tell us the news, while our baby was already taken in the ambulance by himself.

‘Their actions were UNETHICAL! I want everyone held accountable for their poor decisions! Because of their poor decisions, we didn’t get to say goodbye to our baby.’

She has hailed Er’mias as her ‘best friend’ and says she is ‘so lost and lonely’ without him.

Valleygate was founded in 2017 and operates multiple dental surgery centers across North Carolina.

The dentistry network has ‘safely cared’ for more than 30,000 patients since its founding, Jones added.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services issued a cease-and-desist letter to the Greensboro facility last month over issues stemming from renovations that were under way at the time of Er’mias’ death.

Valleygate allegedly did not obtain appropriate permissions for the $2million renovation, state documents reviewed by WBTV claim.

Inspectors found nearly two dozens issues with the three operating rooms that were created during the project, the documents allege.

Valleygate was ordered to cease operations in the newly constructed operating rooms, as well as any other parts of the building that were impacted by the renovations.

State officials allege the cease-and-desist was issued because of the ‘severity of the non-compliance’ and Valleygate’s failure to provide authorities with copies of its construction plans.

The surgery network last week sent a report to the state claiming that all issues had been addressed and requested a new inspection.

Jones, in a statement to the news outlet, claimed the ‘findings were minimal and confirm strong overall performance’.

She also noted that the Greensboro surgery center ‘remains open, operational, licensed and authorized to provide critical dental services’.

The Daily Mail has approached Valleygate’s Greensboro facility for comment.