A mother contracted a flesh eating disease after her wrist was injured in a sex game where her boyfriend tied her up. When she was first seen the doctors concluded she just had a sprained wrist and sent her home with pain killers. The very next day her arm turned black and blistered and eventually took her life as she had a heart attack in the ambulance on her way to the hospital.
Tragically, Katie suffered a heart attack in the ambulance and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at hospital on January 2 this year.
An inquest heard she had contracted Necrotising Fasciitis, known more commonly as a flesh-eating virus.
The killer disease can be caused by a small cut on someone’s skin which can quickly develop into a deadly bacteria.
An inquest into her death found medical staff at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, failed to correctly diagnose her.
As a result, her grieving family blame the hospital. Katie was not seen by senior doctors, but a junior doctor from India, who had only come to Britain four months prior.
At the inquest, assistant coroner Emma Brown said that she should have been kept in hospital and undergone major surgery.
She told Birmingham Coroner’s Court: ‘They (the doctors) flagrantly ignored the policy that was there for the very situation Katie found herself in.
‘Her early warning score was six and should have resulted in regular and ongoing observations and further investigations.
‘These were not carried out. If Katie had remained in hospital, it is clear that her death would have been avoidable.
‘These mistakes amounted to a gross failure to provide basic medical attention.
‘Katie’s death was due to Necrotising Fasciitis contributed to by neglect.’
Ms Brown said there may have been other explanations for her injuries but the most likely was when she was restrained.
The cause of her infection is lurid but inconsequential. You can catch Necrotising Fasciitis from any injury, no matter how trivial. The real culprit was the negligence of the hospital, who ignored the signs in violation of their own protocols.