Cruel and diabolical
Alex calls for better end-of-life care after watching helplessly as former soldier Andrew, 43, suffocated
A DAD-OF-THREE slowly suffocated in front of his wife as medical staff said they could do nothing to ease his suffering.
Ex-soldier Andrew Hogg, who had MND, was 43 when he died gasping for breath.
Widow Alex, 37, is now campaigning for better end-oflife care for MND sufferers.
She said: “Andrew knew he was dying. It was a slow suffocation and he was absolutely terrified.
“Since his diagnosis, we had been told at the end of his life he would be fully sedated and wouldn’t be aware of anything.
“But he was and he was terrified. It is diabolical that someone had to die like that with a medical professional in the room. It was cruel.
“We must make sure this never happens again.”
Alex has been unable to get satisfactory responses from Lothian Health Board.
She was advised to call for medical help if Andrew’s breathing was poor. At 12.30am on August 25, she called St John’s Hospital in Livingston as he struggled to breathe. A nurse arrived soon after and gave him Buscopan which had helped him before. But things got worse.
Alex said: “I called St John’s at 3.03am, said it was an emergency and my husband was suffocating and panicking.
“He was grabbing on to me, pulling my hair, grabbing my top.
“By the time the nurse arrived again, Andrew was grabbing me mouthing he was going to die.
“The nurse gave him drugs but they didn’t do anything because he was so far gone.
“His eyes were bulging out his head, his fingers were blue, his toes were blue, his lips were blue. She said there was nothing she could do.
“She could have escalated it to a doctor or a palliative care consultant but she was just crying in a corner of the room.”
Andrew’s ordeal has been raised with health chiefs by MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton.
The Scots Lib-Dem leader said: “In eight years of being an MSP this is one of the most heartbreaking and traumatic cases I have encountered.
“She fought so hard for his care but at nearly every time of asking she was met with inadequate provision and inertia.”
NHS Lothian medical director Dr Tracey Gillies said: “Members of our senior clinical team wrote to Mrs Hogg and spoke with her directly regarding her husband’s care. We would encourage Mrs Hogg to get back in touch.”
A spokesman for the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership said they did not comment on individual cases.
andrew was grabbing me mouthing he was going to die ALEX HOGG ANDREW’S WIFE