Inquest Hears Mother-of-One Tragically Died After Tube Insertion Incorrectly During Watford Hospital Visit

An inquest has heard of the tragic death of Emma Currell, a 32-year-old mother-of-one, who passed away on 5 September 2020, after a breathing tube was inserted into her food pipe incorrectly.

Emma Currell, 32, mother of a six-year-old child, had just received dialysis for nephrotic syndrome and was on her way home to Hatfield, Hertfordshire, in an ambulance when she had a seizure.

The inquest, held in Hatfield, heard that she was taken back to Watford General Hospital where the tube was inserted.

While Ms Currell was waiting in Accident and Emergency, she experienced a second seizure and an anaesthetic team was called in to sedate her, as her tongue had swollen and she was bleeding from the mouth. She died that night, on the 5th of September 2020.

The hearing was told that Ms Currell had nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disease that leads to leakage of protein from the blood into the urine and a build-up of water in the body.

Despite staff raising concerns that the breathing tube was inserted incorrectly, it is understood that the procedure went ahead.