Family feels 'cheated' after 20-year-old's sepsis death
A family whose young daughter died from sepsis following a routine operation say they feel 'cheated' by her death.
A family whose young daughter died from sepsis following a routine operation say they feel "cheated" by her death.
Chloe Rideout, 20, went to the hospital with a burst appendix before being sent home after an operation.
The next day her parents Dave and Sharon, both 51, called an ambulance to rush her to a different hospital where despite every effort from staff she died.
An investigation has now been launched into the circumstances leading up to her death.
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"We feel sad and empty. Cheated. I was so much looking forward to one day when I had the chance to walk her down the aisle," Dave, an estate agent, said. ''Both Shaz and I were constantly talking about what we were going to do with our grandchildren when they came along. We are absolutely devastated by our loss and the fact that it was avoidable."
Rideout, who worked for the Bay Hotel in Coverack, Cornwall, had been full of plans and had just got her visa to travel to Australia.
She initially attended Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, for her operation on Oct. 7, and was discharged six days later.
The following day she fell ill at home and was rushed to the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trelisk in Truro and passed away on Oct. 20.
The family is now being supported by Melissa Mead from Penryn, Cornwall, who has tirelessly campaigned to increase awareness of sepsis since her son William died just before his first birthday in 2014, when his symptoms were mistaken by doctors for a common cold.
Mead, now an ambassador for the Sepsis Trust, said Rideout should never have been discharged from hospital as she was already showing signs of the infection.
"She died in Treliske hospital in Cornwall but she was discharged from Derriford and the sepsis should have been picked up before she was discharged," Mead said. "There was a significant delay because of the discharge. She went in with what turned out to be a burst appendix but she wasn't operated on for 50 hours. After the operation, she was showing signs of sepsis but she was discharged."
"When the medics got to her they immediately knew what was going on and rushed her to Treliske and they did everything they could, but it was too late by that point," she said.
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Mead said that despite the concerns over her discharge at Derriford, she said the family wanted to stress that staff at the Royal Cornwall Hospital did "a really good job."
"They did everything they could. The family can't thank the staff there enough for their compassion, kindness and their hard work in trying to save Chloe," Mead said. "There was nothing that was too much for them. The family really want to express their thanks heartfelt thanks for that."
"For me personally, it's just devastating - where is the buck going to stop?" Mead said. "At what point are people going to start listening and people start thinking 'sepsis'?"
Unable to face Christmas Day this year without her, Dave said he will instead be walking 30 miles from the intensive care unit at the Royal Cornwall Hospital back to the family home at Coverack, to raise money and awareness for the UK Sepsis Trust.
They said they want to support the charity in the hope of preventing other families from going through the same pain.
"We didn't know what sepsis was. The Sepsis Trust visits schools, doctors, and hospitals to educate and raise awareness of this problem, so hopefully, another young person doesn't lose their life and another family doesn't have to live the nightmare we are going through," he said. "Chloe was only 20. She was lovely and only ever thought of others. Please give generously so no other innocent person dies."
"I can't imagine a Christmas without Chloe so if I can raise awareness that will be a help," he said.
An online fundraising page has already raised £11,214 - almost four times his initial £3,000 target - to help the charity continue its work in spreading awareness of the symptoms of sepsis.
For adults, these include, severe breathless, extreme shivering or muscle pain, slurred speech or confusion, and mottled or discolored skin.
For children, symptoms include breathing very fast, convulsions, mottled or bluish skin, extreme lethargy and feeling abnormally cold to touch.
Derriford Hospital has been approached for comment.