A “kind and loving” former scout for Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur died from meningitis after a London hospital sent him home without a brain scan.
Reece Darcheville, 31, died after doctors at Homerton Hospital in Hackney failed to recognise the seriousness of his condition.
He had developed meningitis and pus on his brain as a result of the sinus infection sinusitis, for which a GP had prescribed antibiotics on September 21, 2017.
Five days after receiving a prescription, Reece attended A&E with symptoms including vomiting and a headache.
Following an assessment, the youth football coach and PE teacher was sent home without a brain scan and told to complete his course of antibiotics.
Mr Darcheville, a father of two, was taken back to Homerton Hospital in an ambulance just four days later after his symptoms continued to persist, before being transferred to intensive care at another hospital.
A brain scan showed fluid on the brain and signs of suspected meningitis, and Mr Darcheville was transferred for emergency surgery.
An MRI scan later revealed that Mr Darcheville had suffered severe brain damage which he was very unlikely to recover from. His condition continued to deteriorate and he died nine days later.
Mr Darcheville is survived by his wife, Shenna, and sons Shay and Rayne, now aged 16 and 13.
Shenna described him as an “amazing dad” and a “mentor for many”.
“I met Reece on my 16th birthday and we hit it off straight away. I knew as soon as I met him that he was a kind, loving and generous person,” she said.
“To see him suffer in those final weeks was awful. During the time that Reece was in the hospital the word meningitis was never mentioned, I was told that the sinus infection had spread to his brain and due to the swelling he was in critical condition and may not wake up from the coma.
“The first time I heard anything about meningitis was when I saw it as the cause of death on his death certificate. Reece was an amazing dad and mentor for many and nothing was ever too much trouble for him.”
She added: “Following Reece’s death we donated his organs so he could continue to provide opportunities for others in life. He was one of the world’s good guys and didn’t deserve what happened to him.
“All I can hope for now is that I can help raise awareness of the signs of meningitis and that improvements in care are made to help others.”
Following her husband’s death, Shenna instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate his care.
Emma-Jayne Rudland, a specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing Shenna, said: “We believe the Hospital Trust failed to recognise the significance of Reece’s symptoms during his first visit. If it had, then Reece would have been referred for a brain scan which would have showed a build-up of pus and he would have received the treatment he required to make a full recovery.
“Instead, the care failings that Reece experienced ended in the most devastating way and will continue to affect his family for the rest of their lives.
“While meningitis is a rare complication of sinusitis it’s a well-known complication. Therefore, it’s vital that lessons are learned from this case to improve patient safety. Early detection and treatment is key to beating meningitis.”
A serious incident investigation report by Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust found there was a “possible missed opportunity to appreciate the severity” of Mr Darcheville’s symptoms and consider further investigation when he attended hospital on September 25, 2017.
It added that Reece’s meningitis and pus on the brain wasn’t recognised “until late in the course of the illness”.
Reece received “suboptimal care” and “different management” of his condition may have avoided his death, it said.
