Blood clot lad of 8 died after his ambulance was cancelled
NHS sorry to Kaleb family
A BOY who died from a blood clot would have survived had an ambulance sent for him not been cancelled, an NHS Trust has admitted.
Kaleb Ablett, eight, died from deep vein thrombosis, but it took hospital bosses three years to apologise. The East of England NHS Trust admitted he should have been taken to hospital and given antibiotics for a Group A strep infection, which would have saved his life. Kaleb, a keen footballer, fell ill with a chest infection in December 2019 and his family called 111 after he became breathless with bruise-like marks on his skin. He also suffered leg pain and needed help walking. An emergency medical technician was sent to the family home over concerns of sepsis but the EMT stood the ambulance down, thinking it was not necessary. The next day Kaleb, from March, Cambs, was taken by another ambulance to Peterborough City Hospital where his condition deteriorated. He suffered a cardiac arrest and died on December 30, two days after the original ambulance was cancelled. An inquest in February 2023 concluded Kaleb died from deep vein thrombosis triggered by a Group A strep infection behind his left knee. Yesterday the trust admitted he should have been referred to an out-of-hours GP who would have recommended he be taken to hospital. Had this happened, he would have been sent home with oral antibiotics which “on the balance of probabilities would have resolved the streptococcus infection…and Kaleb would have survived”. Mum Claire Wesley, 41, is calling for lessons to be learned. She said: “I knew something was seriously wrong but nothing prepared me for what happened. I’ll never forget being told I had lost my little boy. I fell to the floor. “Our lives have been torn to pieces. The pain and grief is still as raw today.” In legal correspondence, the Ambulance Trust said it was deeply sorry the care provided to Kaleb “fell below the standard he and his family were entitled to expect”. Claire, also mum to Kaitlin, 21, and Georgia, 14, said: “I hope I can raise awareness of what Kaleb went through so other families don’t have to go through what we are.”