Inquest hears doctor's regret at missing runner's broken leg
- Published
Sarah-Jayne and Steven Roche started the half marathon together
A doctor who failed to spot that a runner - who later died in surgery - had broken her leg, wished he could "go back in time", an inquest has heard.
Sarah-Jayne Roche, 39, of Pontypridd, fractured her femur running the Cardiff Half Marathon in October 2018.
She went to hospital three times before it was diagnosed and died from cardiac arrest during surgery 12 days later.
Dr Tim Manfield, of Royal Glamorgan Hospital, said he had "beaten himself up" for not ordering an X-ray.
"I believed it to be a muscular injury rather than a fracture," he told the hearing at Pontypridd Coroner's Court.
"It was something I hadn't come across in my career before. It's such a large bone that to have a stress fracture occur from running is very unusual, I certainly had never heard of it before.
"I wish I could jump in a time machine and go back and order an X-ray. "
Sarah-Jayne Roche was running to raise money for Parkinson's disease research
Dr Manfield, a consultant in emergency medicine at the Llantrisant hospital, saw Mrs Roche at a pre-arranged appointment on 12 October.
He said he was not aware of concerns among Mrs Roche's family that her leg was "freezing" cold, a sign that blood was not flowing in the leg.
"If they had [said that], it would have raised concerns with me and I would have carried out further examinations," he said.
He also denied the family's claim that he failed to carry out a physical examination.
"That is untrue, I remember feeling the knee, thigh and hamstring and pulling on the lower leg," he said.
"Mrs Roche remained in her wheelchair throughout. There were signs of tenderness at the fracture site but I still believed it to be a muscular injury."
The court heard Mrs Roche, who had two sons aged 12 and eight, developed blood clots because of the broken leg.
Dr Manfield said he ordered an ultrasound but the paperwork was never found.
The inquest continues.
- Published3 September 2019
