It’s my daughter Martha’s 16th birthday today. For some time I’ve wondered what she’d want: would the annual escape room still excite her? What new books would be on her list? Would she still ask for her favourite roast chicken as a birthday meal? What film would she choose for us to hunker down and watch this evening – or would she now rather go out with friends?
Everyday questions, but ones I’ll never be able to answer, because Martha died two years ago, after a series of unforgivable hospital errors. I’ve written in detail in the Guardian about what happened to her but, in short, Martha injured her pancreas after she fell off her bike on a safe family trail. She should have recovered but contracted an infection at King’s College hospital, London. The team of doctors on Rays of Sunshine ward failed to escalate her to paediatric ICU, even though they knew she had severe sepsis and when blood was soaking her sheets; she had a high heart rate, a fever and fast breathing.
