Girl in sepsis tragedy on US school trip ‘ignored by teachers’
As inquest hears teen could have been saved...
A TEENAGER who died from sepsis on a school trip to New York would not have suffered a cardiac arrest if she was prescribed antibiotics, an inquest heard.
Ana Uglow, 17, was ‘ ignored’ by teachers who were more interested in sightseeing, it was claimed.
The Bristol Grammar School pupil collapsed in her hotel room during the trip on December 19, 2019, and died in hospital.
Avon Coroner’s Court heard Ana, a senior prefect who aspired to attend Oxford University, was allegedly refused her request to see a doctor two days before her death.
Her parents David and Natalia Uglow, from Bristol, said Ana told teachers she thought she had a chest infection.
But a teacher told the hearing on Monday that Ana had only complained of feeling tired and having a blocked nose. They said she did not directly ask to see a doctor.
Her mother also said the day before her death, teachers ‘forced her to go on a tour’ of the Empire State Building as they ‘could not leave her alone’.
A report by the chief medical examiner of New York City concluded Ana died from bronchopneumonia and sepsis complicating an influenza upper respiratory infection.
And Dr Chris Danbury, a consultant in intensive care medicine, described Ana as ‘ a fit, healthy woman’ before her death. He said she had an infection which ‘probably became septic’ the day before she died.
He added: ‘If Ana had been treated with antibiotics on December 17 or 18 then it is my opinion that she would not have had a cardiac arrest.’
Ana set off to Washington on December 14 for the history trip. But three days later, she called her mother as she was worried she had a chest infection.
Mrs Uglow told Ana to ask to see a doctor. ‘She reported back that Mr Hambly [a teacher] had told her that she would have had a higher temperature if she had a chest infection and advised her to take paracetamol,’ Mrs Uglow said.
‘I was also told... that if she felt worse in New York they would take her to a doctor.’ Rory Hambly said Ana had not directly asked to see a doctor. He said she asked that when they arrived in New York ‘what would the situation be about getting to a doctor?’
Another teacher on the trip, Ellice Clare, said she would ‘ never’ refuse a student’s request to see a doctor.
On Monday, Mrs Uglow said she believed Ana had annoyed her ‘history fanatic’ teachers by telling them she was ill.
She said in a statement: ‘[Ana] said the teachers had really annoyed her as she could not keep up with their walking but that they just ignored her.
‘She said they were “real history fanatics and all they cared about is chasing those sites”.’
On December 18, Ana told her mother she had been sick and had asked the teachers if she could stay at the hotel but Mrs Uglow said they ‘forced her to go on a walking tour’ of the Empire State Building, where she was seen having a coughing fit and retching into a bin.
The next day, she awoke Mr Hambly at 6am saying her heart was racing and had difficulty sleeping – symptoms of sepsis.
Mr Hambly suggested she take paracetamol and return to bed but at 7.30am her friend woke him again. He went to her room and saw she had suffered a nose bleed. He called emergency services at 8.15am when Ana collapsed and she was taken to hospital. She died later that day.
The inquest continues.
‘History fanatics chasing sites’