Why was my sister left to die?
Woman killed by Covid two days after being told to take paracetamol
A medical factory worker struck down by coronavirus was told by NHS 24 to take “paracetamol and weather the storm” two days before her tragic death.
Mary Clark, pictured, lost her life to COVID-19 after telling her doctor she was “getting worse, not better”.
The 48-year-old fell ill after a major outbreak at a factory where she works and about 20 members of staff were said to be infected there.
Worried her health was in rapid decline, Mary told her sister she had no choice but “to lie here and die” after being passed from her GP to an NHS call handler on 111 who advised her to manage symptoms. Devastated sister Heather Kirkwood, 55, told the Post: “Despite being sick all the time and in pain, the call handler told my sister to just take plenty of fluids, paracetamols and weather the storm.”
A medical factory worker struck down by coronavirus was told by NHS 24 to take “paracetamol and weather the storm” two days before her tragic death.
Mary Clark from Dailly lost her life to COVID-19 on Wednesday, January 27 after telling her doctor she was “getting worse, not better”. She was only 48.
Mary fell ill after a major outbreak at the factory which produces PPE with about 20 members of staff infected.
Her family have been left “incensed” by the healthcare treatment of their aunt, sister and fiancée of 30 years as they believe she never got the care she deserved.
She leaves behind her fiance, Colin Grant, 51 who raced to the hospital after being told his partner had suffered a heart attack.
Devastated sisters Heather Kirkwood, 55, Marish Fyfe, 52 and Margaret Clark, 51 have told how the loss of their sister known as ‘Wee Mary Doll’ has left “a big hole” in their hearts.
Heather, who also works at the Rocialle factory in Grangestone Industrial Estate, Girvan along with (shielding) sister Margaret noticed staff displaying symptoms in work before they were sent home.
Mary, who took a test on Monday, January 19, suffered from severe nausea and was “unable to move” without being sick. Worried her health was in rapid decline she told her sisters she had no choice but “to lie here and die” after being passed from her GP to an NHS call handler on 111 on Monday, January 25 who advised her to manage symptoms.
But nine days after finding out she had tested positive for coronavirus, Mary was rushed to hospital after becoming “incoherent and breathless”.
Despite being stabilised with oxygen - Mary suffered a fatal cardiac arrest caused by a blood clot in her lung - she died just three hours later.
Heather told the Post: “Mary was meant to return to her work on Thursday, instead she died on Wednesday.
“It wasn’t for the lack of my sister asking for help from the local GPs and the ‘magic’ 111 number, she did phone and she tried to get help.
“She told them she couldn’t stop being sick, if she moved at all she would be sick.
“When she phoned the GP she told them she was ‘getting worse and not better’ but they told her to phone NHS 24.
“Despite being sick all the time and in pain the call handler has just told my sister to take plenty of fluids, paracetamols and weather the storm.
“My sister passed away, of course we will never know what might have happened if they just took a bit more time with her, would she still be here?
“She didn’t get the care that she deserved, she just had to lay in bed until it killed her.
“We are incensed by the whole thing, her GP are going to investigate how she was treated.
“She said ‘I’m never going to phone any of them again and ask for help, I’m just going to lie here and die’ that’s what has happened.
“On the Wednesday when we were talking to her she was incoherent and breathless, we knew this had gone far enough and we told her partner to phone an ambulance.
“They found out she had a blood clot in her lung that had travelled up to her heart and caused a cardiac arrest. “
Marie’s nieces Sophie Fyfe, 26. and 19-year-old Kelly Fyfe are devastated by their aunt’s death.
Mary, who was “terrified” of catching Covid never even left her house to go to the shops and stayed at home other than when she had to go to work.
Her worst fears were realised when colleagues returned to work after a break at Christmas and began to show symptoms of coronavirus.
She tested positive on Monday, January 19 just days after colleagues had fallen ill.
The Post understands that an outbreak among 20 workers took hold at the factory last month.
Workers had returned after Christmas and New Year on January 5, with the first workers falling ill that weekend.
The Post has been told by souces that by Monday, January 11 more workers were struck with Covid with the factory taking the decision to shut down on Tuesday, January 12.
Concerns have been raised over the actions taken by both employees and management at Rocialle with one source revealing that workers came into work when they were sick.
A source told the Post : “After Christmas, we all arrived back on January 5, at the end of that week we had colleagues who were off.
“They decided to close the factory on Tuesday (January 11) but we wanted them to make that decision a lot sooner.”
Tributes have been paid to ‘Wee Mary Doll’ who enjoyed a night out and was popular amongst villagers and work colleagues.
The family have been overwhelmed by kind words sent to them as Dailly is rocked by the Covid tragedy.
Heather added: “Wee Mary Doll was a character, she has left a big hole in our heart that will never be replaced She was one of them and no one could have said a bad word for her.”
Dr Crawford McGuffie, medical director at NHS Ayrshire & Arran, said: “While we cannot comment on individual patients, we would like to extend our condolences to Ms Clark’s family at this sad time. We would encourage anyone who is unhappy with our services to contact us directly with any concerns they have. This is the only way that we can involve families in the process and provide feedback.”
NHS 24’s Medical Director, Dr Laura Ryan said: “NHS 24 is very sorry to hear of the death of Ms Clark and our sympathies are with her family at this difficult time. We would welcome feedback from her family about the care provided by NHS 24.”
The Post contacted Rocialle Medical Supplies on several occasions to offer the right of reply, the company did not respond as we reached our deadline.