THE husband of a 34-year-old mum-of-two who died suddenly while awaiting a routine operation believes questions need to be answered before his family can grieve.
Kim Lockwood suffered from intracranial hypertension, which caused a pressure build-up around her brain and left her with headaches that could have resulted in blindness if left untreated.
She was due to undergo a lumbar puncture which would help ease symptoms by draining spinal fluid and was admitted to Rotherham Hospital on March 22 - however just two days later, her family were told she had died from a catastrophic brain bleed.
“She was admitted to hospital for tests but became very anxious while waiting and decided to come home and give it another try the day after,” said Kim’s husband, Damien Lockwood, 41.
“On the morning of March 23, she phoned me at work and told me she had been vomiting and was going to take herself back to the hospital.
“She kept updating me and told me she was waiting for a lumbar procedure which she had had before, but she rang me that evening in tears because the morphine she had been given for her headache wasn’t working and she was in a lot of pain.
“She sounded really upset and I felt horrible that I couldn’t be there with her because of the pandemic.
“I tried to reassure her that everything would be okay, and urged her to get some sleep as she hadn’t slept much the night before. I didn’t know then that that would be the last time I spoke to my wife.”
Damien received a phone call at 3am on March 24 to say that Kim had died after suffering a brain bleed.
She leaves two children - Jayden, 14, and Jax, six.
“I was shocked,” added Damien, of Comrades Place, Goldthorpe. “I had spoken to her hours earlier and suddenly I was being told my wife had died. None of us thought this could happen because she was in the best place to get treatment and as far as we knew, she wasn’t in any immediate danger.
“No one is sure what caused the brain bleed or why it happened since doctors assured me she was being monitored.
“She was so happy and lit up any room she entered, the life and soul of the party.
“There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for anyone. I knew from the moment I met her that she was the one, and her death has left a massive hole in our family.
“I feel like it’s all been a bad dream and that I’ll wake up and Kim will still be here and none of this will have happened.”
An inquiry has been set up to look into the circumstances of Kim’s death which her family believe could have been prevented.
“She went in as a happy mum and now she won’t get to see her children grow up,” added Damien. “We want to know what happened and why it ended the way it did.
“I believe her concerns weren’t taken seriously and that more could have been done to treat her to stop this from happening.”
Damien hopes the results of Kim’s inquiry could help prevent other families from similar experiences.
A spokesperson for the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust said: “While we are unable to comment on individual patients, we would like to offer our condolences to the family and loved ones.”
