Sadly, A Mother Died Of A Blood Clot Due To The Ambulance Service’s Actions

A mother died of a blood clot in her brain after an ambulance service mistook her fatal symptoms for an ear infection.

Natasha Hewitt, 35, died three days after bungling NHS call-handlers did not urgently refer her to hospital for potentially life-saving treatment.

The mother-of-one contacted the NHS 111 non-urgent helpline for guidance after suffering migraine-like symptoms for several days. 

She had previously visited a walk-in centre where she was given antibiotics and painkillers for a suspected ear infection.

During the call, she complained she had been unable to get rid of her headache, which came on unexpectedly and felt like ‘someone had hit her with a brick’.

Natasha, of Sheffield, was also suffering from dizziness and difficulty standing – but the call handler failed to refer her to the hospital.

She should have been instructed to get to a hospital within an hour, or an ambulance should have been sent if she couldn’t make it.

She was instructed to speak with her doctor that morning for additional guidance instead, and after doing so, she was given more prescription drugs.

But about 24 hours later, her husband Nick called 999 and Natasha was rushed to the hospital.

She was diagnosed with a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis – a large blood clot on the brain – and moved to a specialist brain unit for surgery.

She tragically died two days later, leaving behind Nick, 44, and her then 16-month-old son Harry, just a week before Christmas 2022.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service, which ran the 111 helpline, has now admitted a breach of duty in Natasha’s care.

The service agreed that if her condition had been diagnosed and successfully treated, on the balance of probabilities, she would have survived.

An inquest also previously ruled there was a ‘missed opportunity’ to refer Natasha to the hospital earlier, and negligence had contributed to her demise.

Heartbroken, Nick said: ‘Natasha was the most loving and devoted wife I could have ever hoped for. She was warm, funny, and incredibly bright.

‘More than anything, she was my closest friend.

‘We’d been through some tough times, but when Harry was born and home, it felt like a new chapter in our lives.

‘We’d do everything as the three of us, and life seemed perfect.

‘Watching her suffer during those final days was awful. I could see her condition getting worse, but felt powerless to help.

‘We had no reason not to believe what Natasha had been told when she called 111. However, by the next day, I knew I had to call 999.

‘I can’t thank the doctors and everyone else at the hospital for everything they did to try and help Natasha, but by that point it was too late.

‘Losing Natasha is something I’ll carry with me forever. We had so many plans and dreams for our future, which have been left shattered.

‘What’s most painful is knowing that Harry has lost his wonderful mum.

‘I tell him about her and how proud she would be of him, but it breaks my heart that Harry can’t get to feel Natasha’s love first-hand.

‘Natasha didn’t deserve to go through what she did. I just hope that by sharing her story, other families don’t experience what we have.’

Natasha, who was studying for a business management with accounting degree through the Open University, began complaining of back pain on December 8, 2022.

She began taking powerful pills for a headache three days later.

She managed to go Christmas shopping with Nick and Harry, where the pair purchased Harry his first pair of shoes.

On December 14, Nick drove her to a walk-in medical centre where Natasha was prescribed antibiotics and painkillers for a suspected left ear infection.

The next day, Natasha began vomiting. Following the call with NHS 111, a GP prescribed her more antibiotics.

However, her condition continued to decline, and Nick called for an ambulance on December 16.

Following brain surgery, Natasha died at 1 am on December 18, 2022.

Natasha and Nick had suffered 11 miscarriages and two failed rounds of IVF before they found out they were expecting Harry.

When Natasha was 25 weeks pregnant, she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her placenta, and doctors decided to deliver Harry 14 weeks premature in July 2021.

The following month, Natasha also received hospital treatment for a blood clot in her lung.

Harry, now aged four, spent 18 weeks in neonatal intensive care before he was allowed home to his parents.

Rosie Charlton, the medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Nick, said: ‘This is a truly tragic case.

‘Nick and the rest of Natasha’s family are traumatised by her avoidable death and the circumstances surrounding it.

‘Worrying issues have been admitted regarding Natasha’s 111 call, and they vividly highlight the importance of patients being fully listened to so the best decisions are made regarding care.

‘As we work with the Ambulance Service towards a settlement which will secure the future of Natasha and Nick’s son, we urge it to learn lessons from Natasha’s death so others don’t have to endure what they have.’

According to the NHS, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is a blood clot in the cavernous sinuses, which are located under the brain behind the eyes.

When an infection in the face or skull spreads to the cavernous sinuses, a blood clot may form. Clots can occasionally form without infection.

Symptoms include: a sharp and severe headache, swelling and bulging of the eyes, double vision and a high temperature.

Peter Reading, the chief executive at Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, said: ‘First and foremost, our thoughts remain with Natasha Hewitt’s family following her death in December 2022.

‘On behalf of the Trust, I would like to reiterate our sincere and unreserved apologies for the NHS 111 service failing to meet the high standard of care that all of our patients are entitled to expect.

‘The incident was fully investigated, and learning from this has been used to make improvements to the care and services we provide.’

This is a terrible loss of life because this poor woman trusted the system.

I truly do hope that the family get some justice.

It appears that our once-loved NHS is now not fit for purpose, and people are dying because of their mistakes, and there have been many.

However, this will keep happening again and again because we now have cheap replacement healthcare.

This is what ‘skill mix’ looks like, and it’s swirling about like alphabet soup.

Sadly, the damage has been done, and anything that is inflicted on the people will be covered up, and the media propaganda machine will be in full force.

We are using cheap labour for all types of industries because money matters and so does control, but even if that were not the case, anyone harmed under these circumstances is nothing short of a sacrificial lamb.

This was a monumental failure in care, and numerous services like this one don’t have access to the patients’ care records, but in this day and age of technology, all healthcare professionals should be able to access the same damn records.