Devastated family blame the NHS for Patrick’s death
31-year-old man with mystery seizures dies
A man who had more than 50 seizures a day has died after spending more than four months in hospital.
Patrick Cash, 31, from Headcorn, passed away at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.
His mother, Mary Cash, confirmed Paddy, as he was known to his family, was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease shortly before his death on September 28.
His youngest sister, Priscilla Lisa Cash, 19, described the former bricklayer as a loving, kind and harmless person.
She said: “There were things he wanted to try out in the world. There was a new chocolate out, a white Snickers. To you it might not mean anything but to me it really hurts. He wanted to try this chocolate but he never got the chance.” His mother, Mary, said: “I am devastated. We can’t believe he’s gone and I cry every minute of every day.
“He was taken from us so quick and we were left in the room to watch him die. If we had known it was going to end like this we would have spent more time with him.”
Patrick’s condition began earlier this year when his hand started shaking and became bent but doctors in Poole, where he was previously living, sent him away and told him to return if it continued.
Despite repeat visits to the doctors and hospitals, including Poole, King’s College London and Canterbury, medical professionals couldn’t find a cause. He was admitted to Maidstone Hospital in July where his family said they watched him lose three stone and was barely able to catch his breath.
In August, he was transferred to Kent and Canterbury for a specialist scan.
His mother said the ordeal affected his social life, ability to work and led to him telling his girlfriend to find someone else.
On occasions, his sister, Priscilla, said she would enter Patrick’s hospital room and find him alone, hanging out of the bed and fitting while the nurses stood outside.
She aims to raise awareness of Patrick’s ordeal. She said: “I want to put out there what my brother has been through so everybody knows what nurses are like. The NHS cannot be trusted. It is the NHS’s fault that my brother passed away because they could have acted faster but they were too busy saying it’s not life threatening so can they tell me now it’s not life threatening?”
When contacted by the KM, the hospitals sent their condolences and urged the family to raise their concerns directly.