Mum killed by f lesh-eating bug after ‘sex game’ injury
A MOTHER died of a rare flesh- eating bug after injuring her wrist in a sex game, an inquest heard.
Katie Widdowson, 23, went to hospital in agony after she hurt herself being tied up in bed by boyfriend Dean Smith.
Doctors at first dismissed her concerns, saying she had merely suffered a sprained left wrist and sent her home with painkillers.
But the next day she could not move her arm, which had turned black and blistered. She was taken back to hospital in an ambulance but had a heart attack on the way and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
The inquest heard she had necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating infection often caused by a small cut. Staff at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield failed to diagnose her, Birmingham Coroner’s Court was told. Assistant coroner Emma Brown said she should have been kept in hospital and had major surgery.
She said: ‘They (the doctors) flagrantly ignored the policy that was there for the very situation Katie found herself in.
‘Her early warning score was six and should have resulted in regular and ongoing observations and further investigations.
‘These were not carried out. If Katie had remained in hospital, it is clear her death would have been avoidable. These mistakes amounted to a gross failure to provide basic medical attention.’ She said Miss Widdowson’s injuries probably occurred when she was restrained.
Her boyfriend, a 25-year- old chef, told the inquest he had tied her up during a sex game days before her death. He said: ‘I do not remember much about it. It’s not anything we have ever done before.’ The inquest heard care assistant Miss Widdowson lived with Mr Smith and their young son in Castle Vale, Birmingham.
On January 1 she sent her boyfriend a photo of her injured wrist and said she could not move it. After seeing two doctors and having an X-ray, she was told she had a sprained wrist and discharged from hospital. Within 24 hours she was dead.
After the hearing, Miss Widdowson’s mother, 54, criticised medical staff. She added: ‘They (Katie and Dean) had been at a New Year’s Eve party until 5am on New Year’s Day. They’d got home around 6am and they’d had sex and she was tied up.
‘They were a loving couple and it’s nobody else’s business what they did behind closed doors.’
The family are considering taking legal action against Heart of England Foundation Trust, which runs Good Hope.
A spokesman for the trust said it would be releasing a statement today after it had ‘spoken to the relevant people’.
‘They were a loving couple’