UK
Girl, 13, ‘asked mum if she would die’ before passing away from sepsis while pain medicine allegedly delayed, inquest hears
A 13-year-old girl in “unbearable” pain asked her mother if she would die before she passed away from sepsis, an inquest has heard.
Chloe Longster was rushed to the emergency department of Kettering General Hospital, Northamptonshire, on 28 November 2022 after she woke up with pain in her ribs and cold-like symptoms.
She was admitted that evening to a paediatric ward, Skylark, before later being transferred to intensive care, where she was intubated.
However, Chloe died the following morning.
An inquest into her death, which began at Northampton Coroner’s Court on Monday, heard Chloe’s mother, Louise Longster, tell assistant coroner Sophie Lomas that her daughter’s pain relief was “delayed”.
Her parents claimed that the teen’s death was “completely preventable” and said the family had been left “devastated” by it.
Mrs Longster told the inquest her daughter was “wincing and squirming” from the pain while in hospital.
She said: “Chloe asked if she could be put to sleep because it was unbearable. I remember thinking how pale and clammy she looked.
“It’s harrowing to see your own child in so much pain.
“She was clock-watching constantly – she knew when her paracetamol and ibuprofen were due and it was always delayed.
“It was like we were chasing her pain rather than getting on top of it.
“Chloe asked me on Skylark if she was going to die. It’s haunting that the 13-year-old was the one that was right. It’s devastating.”
Louise Longster, the mother of 13-year-old Chloe Longster. Pic: PA
It was only when Chloe was moved to a side room and diagnosed with influenza A that it was “taken seriously or acknowledged how much pain she was in”, Mrs Longster added.
A&E consultant Dr Marwan Gamaleldin saw Chloe three or four times before she was transferred to the paediatric ward.
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He said he believed she had a chest infection at the time and that “pain was the main thing”.
“She had four doses of pain relief with three different medications, I appreciate that maybe it was not enough, but it was four doses of pain relief,” he said.
Dr Gamaleldin added that in the two-hour period he observed Chloe, he “did not think” that she had sepsis as she did not show either of the mandatory markers used to diagnose the condition – high white blood cell count or a fever.
At least one other staff member also spoke to the inquest.
The inquest continues.