Teen in pain asked if she would die, inquest told

Chloe Longster had asked if she was "going to die", a coroner was told

A 13-year-old girl was in "unbearable" pain shortly before dying from sepsis, an inquest has heard.

Chloe Longster had asked if she was "going to die" while on a paediatric ward at Kettering General Hospital, in Northamptonshire, in November 2022, her mother told a coroner.

Louise Longster said her daughter's words were "haunting".

Mrs Longster told the inquest in Northampton on Monday, how she felt that she was being a "nuisance" to hospital staff because she was trying to get more help.

Chloe died a day after arriving at the hospital on 28 November 2022. She was taken to the emergency department after waking up with pain in her ribs and cold-like symptoms. She died the next day.

She had been admitted to the paediatric ward, called Skylark, and was then transferred to intensive care, assistant coroner Sophie Lomas heard.

Louise Longster told an inquest how her daughter's words were "haunting"

"Chloe asked if she could be put to sleep because it was unbearable," Mrs Longster told the hearing.

"It's harrowing to see your own child in so much pain."

Mrs Longster said pain relief was "always delayed".

"She was clock-watching constantly - she knew when her paracetamol and ibuprofen were due and it was always delayed," said Mrs Longster.

"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."

She said she felt that she was being a "nuisance" and "dramatic" because she was trying to get more help on the ward.

Dr Marwan Gamaleldin, the A&E consultant, saw Chloe three or four times before she was transferred to the paediatric ward and believed she had a chest infection, the inquest heard.

"It was already flagged that pain was the main thing," said Dr Gamaleldin.

"She did not come across as struggling to breathe."

He said she had four doses of pain relief.

Dr Gamaleldin said in the two-hour period that he observed Chloe, he "did not think" she had sepsis.

Tricia Martinez, a nurse at the hospital, triaged Chloe when she arrived and had recently joined the paediatric ward, the coroner heard.

She told the inquest that Chloe looked in "agony".

The nurse said she "escalated" the issue and asked for the X-ray.

But she said she did not tick one of the boxes on a sepsis screening document.

"The fault on my part was that I was not able to complete the sepsis form or go back to it after escalating," she said.

"During the time that I saw her, something within said that there is something wrong with this child.

"We can only suggest or say she has possibly this or that, but the diagnosis will be given by the doctor."

The inquest continues.