The family of a 12-year-old Manitoba boy who suffered severe brain damage, allegedly the result of a routine tonsillectomy, has filed a lawsuit against doctors, nurses and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

The family of Dylan Campbell says the boy has been in a permanent vegetative state since December of 2009 after suffering health problems following surgery the previous month.

Dylan was 11 years old when he travelled from his home in Swan River, about four hours west of Winnipeg, to Winnipeg's Children's Hospital for the tonsillectomy. He was released 15 hours after the surgery, which is standard for most hospitals, reported CTV's Jill Macyshon.

His mother, Sandra, said she rushed him back to the hospital five days later, after he started having trouble breathing and began coughing up blood.

"They were told to wait, they were told to sit in the ER and wait their turn," Macyshon told CTV News Channel Wednesday evening. "An hour-and-a-half later, Dylan collapsed to the floor in full cardiac arrest. He was then treated by doctors but at that point, the family says, it was too late, he suffered brain damage."

The family is seeking unspecified damages in the lawsuit, but say they want enough to be able to care for Dylan at home. Dylan is currently living in a care home in Winnipeg.

The lawsuit names doctors, surgeons, nurses and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, which oversees the city's hospitals. The agency is refusing to comment on the lawsuit because it has already been filed in court.

The statement of claim alleges there was a surgical complication, as well as a complication with the anaesthetic because of Dylan's weight. The boy is about 5' 6" and weighs about 250 pounds.

Robert Tapper, the family's lawyer, told Macyshon he doesn't believe the WRHA can use the complications as a defence because doctors should have known his weight and adjusted his anaesthetic accordingly.

"My task is to demonstrate what happened to this child shouldn't have happened to this child, that somebody out there is responsible for that," he told CTV News.

Tapper says it could be a year or two before the lawsuit is heard in court.

Sandra, as well as Dylan's father Jerry, visit and talk to their son every day, though they are not sure that he can hear them.

Jerry Campbell says the couple has "many things on our mind. Angry is just one of them. Disappointed. I can keep going on."

The Campbell's case marks the second time that the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has been in the headlines in the past month.

Winnipeg police announced in October they have launched an investigation to see if criminal charges are warranted in connection with the death of a homeless aboriginal man, who died after waiting for 34 hours in a local hospital's waiting room.

Brian Sinclair, a double amputee who uses a wheelchair, died waiting to be seen for a bladder infection at the Health Sciences Centre in September 2008.

Sinclair's family has filed a $1.1-million lawsuit against the regional health authority, the Manitoba government and the medical staff who were working at the time of death.

An inquest into Sinclair's death will also to be held, but a date has not been set.

With a report by CTV's Jill Macyshon and files from The Canadian Press