13.11.2014
Robert (Jim) Stuart aged 67 and Darren Hughes aged 42 had kidney transplants in November 2013 but after surgery their conditions began to deteriorate rapidly; they lost consciousness and died just over two weeks later.
The hearing at Cardiff Coroner’s Court will be attended by the families of Jim and Darren, from Cardiff and Bridgend in South Wales, who will be represented by specialist medical negligence lawyers from Irwin Mitchell who hope that the inquest will provide much-needed answers about how their loved ones died.
The post-mortem revealed that they both died from infection called Meningeoencephaltis which was caused by a parasitic worm known as Halicephalobus which lives in soil and commonly found in horses. There have only been five reported cases in the world of people diagnosed with the infection, all have been fatal.
The donor of the kidneys died from the same infection.
Several investigations have been carried out by University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where both transplants took place, NHS Blood and Transplant and Public Health England and Public Health Wales are also involved. These will be revealed at the inquest.
Families Desperately Seeking Answers After Tragic Deaths
An inquest to investigate the deaths of two men who died after being given organs infected with a parasitic worm during kidney transplants is scheduled to begin in Cardiff on Tuesday 18th November at 10am.Robert (Jim) Stuart aged 67 and Darren Hughes aged 42 had kidney transplants in November 2013 but after surgery their conditions began to deteriorate rapidly; they lost consciousness and died just over two weeks later.
The hearing at Cardiff Coroner’s Court will be attended by the families of Jim and Darren, from Cardiff and Bridgend in South Wales, who will be represented by specialist medical negligence lawyers from Irwin Mitchell who hope that the inquest will provide much-needed answers about how their loved ones died.
The post-mortem revealed that they both died from infection called Meningeoencephaltis which was caused by a parasitic worm known as Halicephalobus which lives in soil and commonly found in horses. There have only been five reported cases in the world of people diagnosed with the infection, all have been fatal.
The donor of the kidneys died from the same infection.
Several investigations have been carried out by University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where both transplants took place, NHS Blood and Transplant and Public Health England and Public Health Wales are also involved. These will be revealed at the inquest.
Expert Opinion
Both of these families are going through an incredibly difficult time and they are understandably devastated by their loss of their loved ones.
“The families are both desperately seeking answers as to how these tragedies could have happened and what measures should have been taken to ensure the patients safety. They have serious concerns about the information they have heard so far about what happened and hope that the inquest will provide them with answers to the many questions they have about the circumstances leading up to the deaths.”
Julie Lewis - Partner
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