The family of a late Nottinghamshire market trader say they feel as though they are still waiting for answers after his death. David Knight, who ran The Market Cobbler at the Idlewells Indoor Market, in Sutton-in-Ashfield , died at Queen’s Medical Centre on July 19 2021 after enduring a double leg amputation.
An inquest concluded at Nottingham Council House today (July 29), found that the 62-year-old of Kirkby-in-Ashfield had died due to a number of factors. Assistant coroner Elizabeth Didcock said he passed away after multi organ failure that was contributed to by a fat embolism and his underlying peripheral arterial disease.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live after the inquest, Mr Knight's daughter Nicky Paylor said her dad had gone through hell. “At least we have got some answers now on what they deem it was," she said.
Read more: Nurse admits 'delays' and 'gaps' in care of popular Nottinghamshire market trader before death
"There were a lot of questions, other questions of care. The hospital say they have put in measures but there were already measures in place that weren’t being followed properly.
“It’s hard seeing your dad go through all those struggles. It was like he was going through hell, being chopped up and having to be given all these drugs.”
Giving evidence, Andrew Beech, chief vascular scientist at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), admitted two mistakes had been made in the lead up to Mr Knight's death. He had wrongly been given a second dose of gentamicin - an antibiotic used to treat several types of bacterial infections - at the end of June.
This meant Mr Knight had to be transferred to City Hospital to undergo kidney dialysis. Mr Beech also said a sample of his blood had been lost on its way to the lab on July 18 - something he told the coroner he had “never experienced before”.
He said that whilst it most likely delayed Mr Knight's treatment, it did not contribute significantly towards his death. Mr Beech said the same of the second dose of gentamicin.
Ms Didcock agreed - acknowledging there were mistakes, she said they did not have more than a minimal contribution towards Mr Knight's death. Mr Beech added that measures had been put in place at NUH to help prevent both mistakes from happening again, including changing the gentamicin guidelines and ensuring blood transfusion training.
Mr Knight spent around five months in hospital in Nottingham before he died, having originally admitted himself to King's Mill Hospital in early 2021. He was suffering from vascular arterial disease and developed leg ulcers.
After his condition worsened he had both legs amputated - his right in May and his left in June. However, despite the operations and brief improvements in his wellbeing, Mr Knight continued to deteriorate before passing away on July 19.
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