Woman died with 'blood oozing from eyes' one day after being told she didn't have disease
A woman died the day after being told she didn't have a disease she'd gone to hospital for.
An inquest into whether the death of 20-year-old Sophie Ward was preventable heard that she was rushed to Barnet Hospital after shivering and having a high temperature.
She'd told her mum about her symptoms and called 111, who advised her to go to hospital where they arrived at a 'chaotic' A&E.
They told staff at the hospital they were concerned that Sophie might have meningitis, and MyLondon reports that the 20-year-old was seen after about two hours where she was sent for blood and urine tests.
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Sophie wasn't seen by a doctor until around five hours after the 111 call told her to go to A&E, and underwent a CT scan being told that it would detect meningitis in 90 percent of cases.
The 20-year-old's results came back clear, and the woman's mother, named Alice, claimed that doctors did not attempt a lumbar puncture on her daughter to further diagnose whether or not it was meningitis.
Alice says her daughter was told to go home, as doctors said it would be safer due to the risk of picking up other infections, but to return if Sophie developed a rash.
Having arrived at A&E at around 3:30pm on 30 July, 2023, the mother and daughter left the hospital at around 10pm.
The inquest heard that at 2am the following morning, Sophie was 'violently sick' and her temperature had risen. The woman texted her friend to say she'd 'never felt so ill in her life' and was covered in a rash on her neck and back.
Alice called 999 and an ambulance arrived to take Sophie back to hospital, with the jury at the inquest hearing that 'blood seemed to ooze from her eyes'.
The 20-year-old suffered severe organ failure and her heart was restarted three times before she was pronounced dead at around 4:30pm on 31 July, 2023, less than a day after she had been sent home from the hospital.
Alice told the inquest that her daughter had been 'dearly loved' and was 'admired by all for her tenderness, her sincerity, her kindness, and her beauty'.
Following his daughter's death, Sophie's father Paul has raised over £20,000 for Meningitis Now and set himself the target of cycling 90km around the Isle of Wight in six hours.
On the fundraiser page, he wrote: "Her death was tragic and avoidable.
"I am supporting Meningitis Now because this charity supports the bereaved, supports survivors of Meningitis and funds research into Meningitis.
"Research can develop improved vaccines, find more accurate ways of diagnosing Meningitis and raise awareness of this deadly infection.”
Joe Harker