Father of girl who died with 'blood oozing from eyes' speaks out as jury decides hospital contributed to her death

The father of a 20-year-old woman who died 24 hours after being sent home from hospital has spoken out following an inquest into her death.

Arts student Sophie Ward had started feeling unwell during the afternoon of Sunday 30 July 2023, with her parents taking her to Barnet Hospital A&E over concerns that she may have contracted meningitis. Her symptoms had included a severe headache, body aches and a fever.

According to a report from MyLondon, Sophie waited two hours before being sent for blood and urine tests and later underwent a CT scan which is said to detect meningitis in 90 percent of cases.

Despite continued concerns from the family about meningitis, Sophie was discharged but told to return if she developed a rash.

20-year-old Sophie Ward with her father Paul (Just Giving)

Sophie's condition would deteriorate overnight, with the 20-year-old being 'violently sick' and discovering that she was covered in a rash.

Her mother Alice then contacted 999 after blood appeared to 'ooze from her eyes'. Sophie would be readmitted to hospital but died the following day after suffering from severe organ failure.

An inquest into whether or not her death was avoidable has since been held, with doctors revealing that a lumbar puncture - the main test for meningitis - was not performed on the Sunday.

The inquest reached its conclusion last Friday (21 February), with a jury ruling that a combination of discharging Sophie, not administering antibiotics and record keeping at the hospital had 'more than minimally contributed to her death' (via ITV).

Sophie's father Paul Ward has now spoken to MailOnline about his daughter's heartbreaking death, revealing that he and his wife had voiced their concerns about meningitis multiple times.

"The doctor said it might have been a viral infection," the 58-year-old said.

"He didn't know what it was, and on that basis he discharged Sophie, and that was an unsafe and defective thing to do."

He continued: "It was a serious mistake and my view, my observation of what happened is this serious mistake didn't just spontaneously generate.

"It happened because his approach to Sophie was careless."

Paul has since raised £20,000 for Meningitis Now in his daughter's memory and paid tribute to 'creative' and 'gentle' daughter.

Paul described his daughter as a 'happy and fulfilled' person (Family Handout)

He said: "She had so many other amazing qualities as well. She was funny. If you were Sophie's parent you would be a very happy parent. She was such a happy and fulfilled person.

"On the one hand no good could come from Sophie's death or you just try and do something so I did some fundraising to support meningitis charities."

A spokesperson for Barnet Hospital said (via MailOnline): "We would like to share our deepest condolences with Sophie's family and to apologise to them that Sophie died while under our care.

"We take the findings of the jury in this inquest extremely seriously and will carefully review the evidence that has been heard along with the record of inquest."

The statement continued: "Steps have been taken to improve sepsis and meningitis awareness among our medical staff, including holding a staff learning event to hear from both Sophie's family and the Meningitis Research Foundation.

"We also continue to remind emergency department staff that senior doctors are available for advice and to emphasise the importance of listening to the concerns of patients and families."