A much-loved 28-year-old from Sunderland was sent home from A&E and told she had a chest infection. Twenty-four hours later she was back at Sunderland Royal and in agony.
In reality Leanne Haswell had developed a lethal pulmonary embolism - a blocked blood vessel in a lung - and by the time it was identified and she was receiving hospital treatment, it was too late. She died after a cardiac arrest at the hospital on February 7 2021.
In the months since then, hospital bosses have admitted more could have been done . On June 9 this year Karin Welsh, Sunderland's assistant coroner ruled: "Appropriate investigation and treatment on February 6 2021 would have prevented death." February 6 had seen Leanne arrive at hospital A&E complaining of chest pains for the second time in a week.
Though an ECG test was carried out, doctors sent her home and by the next day - when she had developed further symptoms - it was too late to save her. Now her mum Lesley is fighting to ensure other families do not go through the same trauma her own has. She is being represented by the medical negligence firm Hay and Kilner as she seeks redress for what happened.
The South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust said it had taken "immediate action" to prevent a repeat.
Lesley told ChronicleLive : "It's absolutely devastating. It was diabolical for us, and it shouldn't have happened. I'd hate, hate for another family to go through this. Leanne had so many friends - she just did what girls of that age do. She'd see her mates at the weekends and she was really close with her sister Sam."
Lesley said her daughter was "so well-loved" and remembered how she'd loved trips to Disneyland in Florida as a child. "She was such a lovely, positive girl. She was very clever, and passed all her GCSEs at school - and even had an interest in engineering," she said. Lesley explained that as she grew up Leanne took a number of beauty courses and enjoyed helping to glam-up her friends.
Michael Scobie, a solicitor at Hay and Kilner Law Firm, who is acting for Lesley Haswell said: "Leanne’s family remain devastated by this tragic and needless loss of life. The only hope now is that the Trust learn from the events that occurred and take steps to avoid it happening to anyone else."
Dr Paul McAndrew, deputy medical director at the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust which runs Sunderland Royal said: "Our sincere apologies and condolences go out to Leanne’s family at this incredibly difficult time.
“We fully accept that there were missed opportunities to recognise the severity of Leanne’s condition and have taken immediate action to learn from this and prevent it from happening again. Whilst we know that there is nothing that can take away the pain of losing Leanne, we hope her family are reassured by the Coroner’s recognition of the work we have done and the learning we have since shared."
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