A 6-year-old girl died after one of the hospital workers accidentally nicked a vital artery during a minor procedure. Amelia 'Millie' Ridout visited Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, England for a simple biopsy but it resulted in 'catastrophic' internal bleeding.
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Amelia's death in June 2022 is still a concern after an inquest heard some suspicious news about the terrible ordeal. Allegedly, even when a pediatric doctor noticed signs of something going wrong during the routine procedure, a consultant hematologist didn't raise concerns.
Instead of attempting to halt the biopsy, they told the doctor to continue, resulting in Amelia going into cardiac arrest. The young girl died soon after, and her father Matthew Ridout was never the same. Despite his plummeting mental health after her death, Matthew raised money for Luton and Dunstable Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.
Amelia's mother gave birth to her daughter prematurely in this unit, so the fundraiser was in thanks to their care. Matthew has also raised over £3,600 for the NHS JustGiving charity and included a heartbreaking message sharing his story.
"Where do I begin...?" he began. "What does a father say when he looses the one entirety that makes him whole? The one energy that were he would sacrifice all he has to give them a chance of being everything they can?"
Matthew described the day of Amelia's death as "a day that will echo forever in my mind." He recalled how his daughter "managed to touch/teach and express love to all she meet," and described her as having a "sassy nature."
Amelia enjoyed what her father called "creative play and life science lessons" that would take place in their home and garden. Matthew also announced that he would tackle the three national Peaks challenge on her seventh birthday. This way, he could "be as close to Millie as possible."
Doctors Failed To Notice Red Flags During Procedure
During this recent inquest, they heard that Amelia underwent a bone marrow biopsy when she died. Doctors diagnosed her with pancytopenia, a condition that causes abnormally low white and red blood cells and blood platelets. This 'minor surgical procedure,' as coroner Elizabeth Gray deemed it, was meant to find out more about her issue.
The doctor noticed a spurt of blood during the exam after he took out the needle used to get her bone marrow sample. This should've raised a huge red flag, but according to the coroner, this didn't seem to bother the consultant.
"The supervising Consultant Haematologist was called in to review and confirmed that there were no signs to raise concern and that the bone marrow aspirate and trephine procedure should be concluded," the coroner said.
Despite their efforts, they weren't able to stop the bleeding after the needle "pierced the iliac vessels." Now, Gray has demanded that the NHS create guidelines for future procedures so this doesn't happen ever again.
She wrote these requests to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England, and the British Society for Hematology. The organizations in question must grant a response by April 8.
