Stephen was left in a persistent vegetative state following a
procedure at St Mary’s Hospital, London, in 2006. He underwent
surgery to remove a blockage in his anterior descending coronary
artery, which had caused Stephen to suffer a minor heart attack in
November that year.
The procedure involved inserting an angioplasty balloon through
a puncture site in the right femoral artery. The surgery initially
seemed to have been successful. However, our client
began haemorrhaging at the puncture site which caused him to lose a
lot of blood into his abdominal cavity.
The resultant hypotension caused Stephen to suffer a heart
attack and irreversible brain damage. This left him in a coma and
unable to communicate. Stephen’s life expectancy was drastically
reduced.
Our experts assessed the
case and advised that, with competent care the bleeding from the
puncture site should have been recognised and stopped immediately
after the surgery. This would have prevented the heart attack and
brain damage.
Our experts also stated that
following appropriate treatment, which would have included blood
and fluid replacement, Stephen should have undergone further
surgery urgently to repair the puncture in his femoral artery.
As Stephen was unable to
conduct the litigation himself, we acted through his daughter,
Molly. She instructed Mark
Bowman, who was able to settle the case, with court
approval, for £750,000 in December 2009. The case was funded on a
no win no fee basis.
Stephen's daughter said:
"Mark, you have worked incredibly hard for my father and you
have made this terrible ordeal more bearable for me, my sister and
my aunt. I cannot thank you enough".
For further information or if you have a cardiac negligence claim please contact
Mark Bowman on
020 7861 4043 or email mark.bowman@ffw.com
You can discuss your cardiac negligence
claim with any member of our medical
negligence team on
freephone 0800 358 3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com or
complete our short enquiry form.