'ROBBED OF LIFE'
Mum, 36, died of heart attack after ‘hospital sent her home with paracetamol and misdiagnosis of trapped nerve’
Jade's heartbroken mum said the family had been "smashed to smithereens" by the sudden loss
A MUM died of a heart attack after being sent home from hospital with paracetamol, her family say.
Jade Ellis had pain in her left arm then severe chest pains and was rushed to A&E after calling NHS 111.
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Despite showing symptoms consistent with acute coronary syndrome - when blood flow to the heart is limited - the 36-year-old was allegedly diagnosed with a trapped nerve.
Tests, which could have shown signs she was having heart trouble, weren't carried out, and she was told to go home.
Hours later, Jade had a fatal heart attack at home.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Local Health Board has admitted liability by "breach of duty and causation".
READ MORE ON HEART ATTACKS
Bosses apologised for "failings" and said if tests had been done, Jade would have not been discharged, and "on the balance of probability" would have survived, letters say.
Her family, including Jade's children, Deanna Ellis, 20, and Brandon Ellis, 23, say they received a £130,000 payout in July this year.
Jade's mum Sandra Bartlett, 61, a retired cook from Port Talbot, Wales, said: "Jade didn't need to die - I just feel like she was so robbed of life over one singular error.
"The doctor hadn't done a blood test. Had she had a blood test, she would have been saved.
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"We're a family that's been broken and smashed to smithereens.
"She trusted that doctor when he said, 'Go home, you've got a trapped nerve'. She trusted him and came home and died."
What is the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest?
Jade, from Port Talbot, who worked for travel company Tui, started experiencing pains in her arm on March 27, 2020.
She put it down to working in front of a computer all day.
The following day, she began to experience severe chest pains at 11pm, after eating dinner.
Sandra says Jade believed she just had indigestion, but as the pain got worse she rang 111, who advised her to call an ambulance.
Subtle signs of a heart attack
A HEART attack is when the supply of the blood to the heart is suddenly blocked.
It is a medical emergency and needs to be treated right away.
Around 100,000 people are admitted to hospital due to heart attacks every year in the UK, according to the British Heart Foundation.
That's 290 each day, or one every five minutes.
Some symptoms, like chest pain, shortness of breath and feeling lightheaded or dizzy, can be fairly obvious.
But the signs aren't always so blatant, the NHS warns. Other more subtle symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Pain in other parts of the body (it can feel as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms, jaw, neck, back and stomach)
- Sweating
- Feeling sick
- Vomiting
- An overwhelming feeling of anxiety (similar to a panic attack)
- Weakness or fatigue
- Coughing
- Wheezing
A heart attack and cardiac arrest are similar, but not the same.
A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body.
After tests in the ambulance, she was blue-lighted to Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.
After getting inside at 1am on March 28, an ECG and blood pressure test was done, but Jade was told it was a trapped nerve, Sandra says.
She was reportedly told to take paracetamol and go home.
A letter admitting liability says: "It is admitted by the Health Board that in light of Ms Ellis' presentation and despite her young age, she presented with features consistent with a possible diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome and the attribution of her symptoms to musculoskeletal condition was not appropriate due to the lack of investigations."
The board also admits that troponin tests - a heart protein which can be detected in blood following heart problems - weren't done.
It adds that if it had, "Ms Ellis would not have been discharged from hospital at the time".
Rocked doesn't begin to explain it, we've just been smashed to smithereens
Sandra Bartlett
"The Health Board admits that on the balance of probability, had Ms Ellis developed chest pain and/or cardiac arrest in hospital, Ms Ellis would have survived."
At 3.15am, she began to experience massive chest pains which led to a heart attack, her mum says.
Paramedics were called and arrived at 3.55am but by 5am she was pronounced dead at home.
Sandra instructed medical negligence solicitors to investigate Jade's death.
In July, the case was closed, with the board admitting liability, apologising and making a payout.
But Sandra says Jade's death has had a devastating effect on her family.
'SHE'S NEVER COMING BACK'
"The ripple effect of what one person didn't do has caused our family hell," said Sandra.
"Her job and her children were her life.
"She didn't go out at the weekend or anything - that's the kind of mother she was.
"Even when the kids were older, she loved coming in from work, putting her pyjamas on and making tea with them.
"Rocked doesn't begin to explain it, we've just been smashed to smithereens.
"Money doesn't make it better, but if they can have that part of their life free from stress that's something.
"I just want them to be able to go on holidays and not worry about bills.
"Jade is never coming back, and those children are never going to have their mother again."
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A spokesperson for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board said: "We extend our heartfelt condolences to Jade's family as they continue to come to terms with her death.
"As a health board, we have apologised to Jade's family for the instances where her care fell short of the high standards we expect for all of our patients, and have ensured that learning from this case has informed improvements in care for the future."
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