Mother given Gaviscon for heart attack

Inquiry told staff had diagnosed her with heartburn

AN expectant mother who collapsed and later died with symptoms of a heart attack was initially given Gaviscon in hospital, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.

Staff at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow thought eight months pregnant Caroline McCall, 35, was suffering from heartburn, the hearing was told.

Giving evidence, her fiance Alan Muir insisted Ms McCall knew it was not this condition and begged to be taken seriously by hospital staff.

The social worker died four days later of catastrophic heart failure, although her unborn daughter Grace survived following the tragedy in November 2008.

Mr Muir, an electrician, told the inquiry he was left devastated by his partner’s death..

He said he woke up at their home in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, to find her ironing in the living room when she became ill.

He said: ”She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep and decided to get up at 6am. The TV was on. She was sitting beside me and lunged forward, clutching her chest.

“She said she thought she was having a heart attack.

“In the hospital, she told them it was as if it was a heart attack, like a stabbing pain.”

He said a nurse told her she was going to undergo a heart scan but it appeared she was suffering from heartburn.

Mr Muir added: “Caroline knew exactly what heartburn was like. But you have to trust these people. They said it was heartburn.

“I told them Gaviscon did not agree with Caroline, that it would make her sick. Caroline told them ‘this is not heartburn’.

He said medical staff made several other diagnosis of her condition over the next few days, including thrombosis and pulling a muscle in her chest.

How could the symptoms be missed by all these professional people, presenting at hospital with chest pains?

Her brother-in-law Stephen McKenna visited her the second night she was in hospital.

Mr McKenna, 48, said: “At the time, she was in a great deal of distress.

“She kept referring to the pain she was feeling as a heart attack. She said it was emanating from her chest, neck and shoulder area. It was so extreme, she couldn’t sit up straight.”

Her pain was so great that on November 27, 2008, Caroline had to be admitted to a highdependency unit, where she was given two doses of morphine for pain relief.

Mr Muir received a call at home the following morning asking him to attend hospital right away. He was then informed his fiancée had died.

The cause of death was given as cardiac tamponade, aortic dissection, pregnancy and bicuspid valve – a variety of heart failure.

Mr Muir said he later took issue with Caroline’s medical notes because someone had written of her during her stay “free of pain”.

He added: ”Caroline had never been free of pain.

“She was so looking forward to being a mother. She had had miscarriages before but Grace was planned. That has been snatched from her. She never got the chance to be a mum.”

He and brother-in-law Mr McKenna began using the internet to research the symptoms Caroline was suffering from.

He told Glasgow Sheriff Court: ”How could they be missed by all these professional people, presenting at hospital with chest pains?

“She was able to put across how she was feeling. Yet no-one was listening to her.”

Daughter Grace is now four and starting primary school after the summer. Mr Muir said: “Grace is my priority. I speak to her about her muma lot. I tell her Caroline is up in the sky.”

The inquiry, before Sheriff Daniel Scullion, continues.