Latest news with #Downssyndrome
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Failure to act on 999 call by authorities led to death of malnourished teenager and unwell mother
A teenager with learning difficulties would not have died if an ambulance had been sent to her home following a 999 call made three months before her body was found, a coroner has said. The bodies of Loraine Choulla, aged 18, and her mother Alphonsine Djiako Leuga were both discovered on May 21 last year at their home in Hartley Road, Radford, Nottingham. A week-long inquest heard that Loraine, who had Down's syndrome, was 'entirely dependent' on her mother, who had made a 999 call giving her address and postcode and asking for help on February 2 last year, while feeling unwell. During the 999 call, made shortly after 1pm on February 2, Ms Leuga groaned, requested an ambulance and said 'I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line. East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) did not send an ambulance to the address after the call was wrongly classed as being abandoned by the caller, the inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court was told. Summing up the evidence and recording her conclusion on Friday, Nottingham Assistant Coroner Amanda Bewley said 47-year-old Ms Leuga, who born in Cameroon, had frequently refused to answer calls and had gone away for periods of longer than a month. The coroner said she was 'astonished' that Ms Leuga and her daughter were found after a member of the public contacted police after noticing he had not seen them for a lengthy period, rather than by professionals between February and May. After adding that the city council's adult social care department had 'missed opportunities to intervene' and potentially secure a different outcome, the coroner added: 'I am entirely satisfied that had EMAS sent an ambulance to Alphonsine that Loraine would not have died when she died. 'She would most probably still be alive. 'I am clear that Alphonsine died first and Loraine died afterwards.' Ms Leuga died from pneumonia between February 2 and February 8, the coroner recorded, while Loraine had died from dehydration and malnutrition and 'survived her mother by three weeks or more'. The coroner added that she was 'confident to a point of near certainty' that had an ambulance been sent to the address on February 2, Loraine would have been discovered and arrangements made for her needs to be met. The inquest was told that Ms Leuga was admitted to hospital for a blood transfusion in late January last year as she was critically ill with very low iron levels, and was given a 'pragmatic' discharge linked to her daughter's care needs. Pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing by video-link that the mother and daughter were both likely to have been dead for 'weeks to months' before they were found, rather than for days or hours. Dr Hamilton said his initial cause of death following a post-mortem examination on Ms Leuga was pneumonia of uncertain cause, while her daughter's cause of death could not be established. Answering questions from the coroner, the pathologist said he could not rule out that Ms Leuga had died on the day of the 999 call. The body of Loraine, who was born in Italy, showed no evidence of any third party involvement. Dr Hamilton said of the teenager: 'Unfortunately, based on the post-mortem examination and additional tests alone, it is my view that the cause of death is classed as unascertained – that is, I am not able to give a cause of death on the balance of probabilities.' In a statement issued after the inquest, Keeley Sheldon, director of quality at EMAS, said: 'I am truly sorry that we did not respond as we should have to Alphonsine Djiako Leuga and Loraine Choulla. 'Our deepest condolences remain with their family. 'We fully accept the coroner's findings. After our internal investigation, we made changes to our policies, procedures and training to ensure this does not happen in future.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Failure to act on 999 call by authorities led to death of malnourished teenager and unwell mother
A teenager with learning difficulties would not have died if an ambulance had been sent to her home following a 999 call made three months before her body was found, a coroner has said. The bodies of Loraine Choulla, aged 18, and her mother Alphonsine Djiako Leuga were both discovered on May 21 last year at their home in Hartley Road, Radford, Nottingham. A week-long inquest heard that Loraine, who had Down's syndrome, was 'entirely dependent' on her mother, who had made a 999 call giving her address and postcode and asking for help on February 2 last year, while feeling unwell. During the 999 call, made shortly after 1pm on February 2, Ms Leuga groaned, requested an ambulance and said 'I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line. East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) did not send an ambulance to the address after the call was wrongly classed as being abandoned by the caller, the inquest at Nottingham Coroner's Court was told. Summing up the evidence and recording her conclusion on Friday, Nottingham Assistant Coroner Amanda Bewley said 47-year-old Ms Leuga, who born in Cameroon, had frequently refused to answer calls and had gone away for periods of longer than a month. The coroner said she was 'astonished' that Ms Leuga and her daughter were found after a member of the public contacted police after noticing he had not seen them for a lengthy period, rather than by professionals between February and May. After adding that the city council's adult social care department had 'missed opportunities to intervene' and potentially secure a different outcome, the coroner added: 'I am entirely satisfied that had EMAS sent an ambulance to Alphonsine that Loraine would not have died when she died. 'She would most probably still be alive. 'I am clear that Alphonsine died first and Loraine died afterwards.' Ms Leuga died from pneumonia between February 2 and February 8, the coroner recorded, while Loraine had died from dehydration and malnutrition and 'survived her mother by three weeks or more'. The coroner added that she was 'confident to a point of near certainty' that had an ambulance been sent to the address on February 2, Loraine would have been discovered and arrangements made for her needs to be met. The inquest was told that Ms Leuga was admitted to hospital for a blood transfusion in late January last year as she was critically ill with very low iron levels, and was given a 'pragmatic' discharge linked to her daughter's care needs. Pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing by video-link that the mother and daughter were both likely to have been dead for 'weeks to months' before they were found, rather than for days or hours. Dr Hamilton said his initial cause of death following a post-mortem examination on Ms Leuga was pneumonia of uncertain cause, while her daughter's cause of death could not be established. Answering questions from the coroner, the pathologist said he could not rule out that Ms Leuga had died on the day of the 999 call. The body of Loraine, who was born in Italy, showed no evidence of any third party involvement. Dr Hamilton said of the teenager: 'Unfortunately, based on the post-mortem examination and additional tests alone, it is my view that the cause of death is classed as unascertained – that is, I am not able to give a cause of death on the balance of probabilities.' In a statement issued after the inquest, Keeley Sheldon, director of quality at EMAS, said: 'I am truly sorry that we did not respond as we should have to Alphonsine Djiako Leuga and Loraine Choulla. 'Our deepest condolences remain with their family. 'We fully accept the coroner's findings. After our internal investigation, we made changes to our policies, procedures and training to ensure this does not happen in future.'
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
'I'm in bed, I feel cold and I can't move': Mother and daughter found dead three months after 999 call, inquest hears
A mother pleaded for help on a 999 call months before she was found dead alongside her disabled daughter in their home. The bodies of Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, and 18-year-old Loraine Choulla were found on 21 May 2024 in a house in Radford, Nottingham. It is believed the pair were undiscovered for 'weeks or months'. Nottingham Coroner's Court heard that the emergency call led to no ambulance being sent despite the call handler being given their address and postcode. The inquest heard that Ms Luega suffered from sickle cell anaemia and died from pneumonia while her daughter Ms Choulla had learning difficulties and Down's syndrome and relied on her mother for food and hydration. Ms Luega made the 999 call three months before her body was found, telling the call handler she was cold and could not move. She requested an ambulance, telling the call handler 'I need help to my daughter' and 'I'm in the bed, I feel cold and can't move' before cutting off the line, the inquest heard. She also gave details of her address in Hartley Road, Radford, Nottingham, where her body and that of her daughter were found on May 21 last year. Pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing that he could "not rule out" that Alphonsine might have died on February 2, the day she called 999. A inquest into the deaths, led by assistant coroner Amanda Bawley, is expected to last for five days. Giving evidence to the inquest, East Midlands Ambulance Service's head of patient safety, Susan Jevons said the call handler, an emergency medical adviser, should have referred the call to the control room despatch officers. Ms Jevons said attempts had been made to call Ms Leuga back, but she told the inquest: 'The call should have been left for an ambulance to attend once we had got the address, which we had. 'The ambulance didn't go to the address because the emergency medical adviser, thinking it was an abandoned call, closed the call down. 'So it wasn't visible to anybody within the emergency operations centre.' The coroner told Ms Jevons she would have to consider the possibility that sending an ambulance to the address 'might have been the difference between life or death' for Loraine. The inquest was told that Ms Leuga was admitted to hospital for a blood transfusion in late January last year as she was critically ill with very low iron levels, and was given a 'pragmatic' discharge linked to her daughter's care needs. The coroner asked Ms Jevons whether, if she found at the end of the inquest that Loraine had died after her mother, there had been a 'missed opportunity' in relation to the teenager's death. Ms Jevons responded: 'Yes, there was a missed opportunity for an ambulance to attend Alphonsine when she requested one.' Earlier, pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told the hearing by video-link that the mother and daughter were both likely to have been dead for 'weeks to months' before they were found, rather than for days or hours. Dr Hamilton said his initial cause of death following a post-mortem examination on Ms Leuga was pneumonia of uncertain cause, while her daughter's cause of death could not be established. Answering questions from the coroner, the pathologist said he could not rule out that Ms Leuga had died on the day of the 999 call. The body of Loraine, who the inquest was told was 'entirely dependent on her mother to meet her hydration and nutritional needs', showed no evidence of any third party involvement. Dr Hamilton said of the teenager: 'Unfortunately, based on the post-mortem examination and additional tests alone, it is my view that the cause of death is classed as unascertained - that is, I am not able to give a cause of death on the balance of probabilities.' Asked to comment on the possibility that Loraine's death may have been because of dehydration or malnutrition, Dr Hamilton answered: 'There is nothing in my findings that say any of that is incorrect.' Loraine was more likely to have died from dehydration than malnutrition, the witness said, if it was accepted that she 'wasn't able to make the decision to drink water' because of her difficulties. The inquest continues.
