A toddler has been awarded damages after her mum who went to A&E with pains in her arms was told she was holding her wrong and sent home – and died of a cardiac arrest.
Nadia Wearn, 31, visited hospital with discomfort in her limbs, chest and back but doctors said it was because she had cradled 13-week-old Ava incorrectly.
Nadia, of South Shields, Tyneside, was told to go home and rest – but died just hours later.
Desperate attempts by her nurse mother Pauline Elleithy failed to revive her and she passed away on June 1, 2011.
The High Court has now approved a settlement for Ava, now three, who will have to grow up without a mother.
Ava’s award will be paid into the court and administered for her benefit to ensure her care needs can be met until adulthood.
Nadia would have likely survived to bring up her daughter with her husband Jason had South Tyneside District Hospital done tests they should have, the court found.
Mrs Wearn’s family began legal proceedings in October 2012 against South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust which subsequently admitted liability.
Speaking after yesterday’s hearing, the family’s solicitor Angela Curran, from Burnetts Solicitors, said: “The Trust accepted liability for Nadia’s death in 2013 and agreed that further tests should have been carried out.
“Sadly, the Trust also admitted that, had those tests been undertaken, Nadia would still have been in hospital at the time of her cardiac arrest and in all likelihood would have been successfully resuscitated. It’s an absolutely tragic case. There are no winners here.”
Nadia’s family wished to make no further comment.
An inquest in 2012, heard during her first visit to the hospital no electrocardiography or blood tests had been carried out to find out the cause of her pain.
Dr Peter Goode, a specialist consultant at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, told the hearing these “should have” been done.
Steve Williamson, South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust’s chief operating officer, said: “We are extremely sorry about Nadia Wearn’s tragic death and would like to extend our deepest sympathies to her family on their sad loss.”
