University of South Wales student ‘dismissed multiple times’ by medics before her death

A student at the University of South Wales was “dismissed multiple times” by medics before her death, a new inquest has heard.

Bethan Amy James, daughter of former cricket star and sports journalist, Steve James, died at the age of 21 on 9th February 2020.

Bethan was described by her mother, Jane James, as a “caring” and “beautiful” person who “put people before herself”.

At 20, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease after suffering with gastrointestinal issues throughout most of her life, which Mrs James said Bethan handled with “great maturity”.

When she died, Bethan was studying journalism at the University of South Wales with a goal to spread awareness of Crohn’s disease and similar illnesses.

Bethan had also made a vlog channel where she would publish content following her life with Crohn’s disease. She later went on to be involved with Strictly’s Amy Dowden.

Amy, who is also diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, worked with Bethan on a BBC documentary which was aired after her passing, and was dedicated in her name.

via Instagram

Mrs James said: “As a person she never moaned, she never made a fuss. She was caring. She was beautiful. She put people before herself. She was more interested in other people and their stories and I think that’s why she would have made a brilliant journalist.”

According to Wales Online, on the first day of the inquest into Bethan’s death, Mrs James disclosed details about the event.

At Pontypridd Coroner’s Court, it was revealed that Bethan had been to the hospital many times before she was admitted into hospital on 8th February 2020, before she died on 9th February.

Most Read

Plumber breaks silence on what his experience with Bonnie Blue was *really* like

The bleak aftermath of Bonnie Blue’s 1,000 guys in 12 hours challenge, in pictures

Woman who ‘died’ for eight minutes describes exactly what she saw, and it’s terrifying

Mrs James said that on Saturday 25th January 2020, whilst Bethan was in town with one of her friends, she started to feel tired and developed shortness of breath. Bethan was then booked in with her GP the coming Monday.

The inquest was told that GP Dr Jonathon Carnell shared he had concerns about Bethan’s condition and arranged a referral to Llandough Hospital so that Bethan’s respiratory symptoms could be investigated further.

In Bethan’s discharge summary notes on 28th January, she was given antibiotics for “community acquired pneumonia”, but Mrs James has said that she wasn’t informed of the diagnosis.

Mrs James further explained: “We sat in the waiting area and they said they think she may have a chest infection and that she should take antibiotics as a precaution,” and added that if the word “pneumonia” would have been mentioned, this would have been a sign that Bethan’s condition and symptoms were worsening.

The inquest heard that over the next few days Bethan’s condition worsened. She was suffering with symptoms such as involuntary movements in her right arm and struggles when using her right arm and hand.

“On Tuesday she could drive, and by Sunday she couldn’t hold a cup in her hand,” Mrs James told the court.

Due to Bethan’s developing and worsening symptoms, Mrs James decided to take her daughter to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on Sunday 2nd February.

Bethan’s mother went on to express how on doctor in particular was “dismissive” towards her daughter’s developed chest pains, describing her symptoms as lacking “any significance”. She said the doctor spoke to A&E consultant Dr Chen Wen Ngua, as well as neurology registrar Dr Mark Willis for advice about Bethan’s condition.

Mrs James becoming emotional as she recounted to the inquest the day of Monday 3rd February. She said her daughter collapsed out of exhaustion due to her prolonged time at the hospital the day before.

An ambulance was called and rushed to Bethan, but as a result of feeling dismissed and exhausted, she did not want to go to the hospital.

Two days later, Bethan’s symptoms continued and worsened into her right leg as Mrs James revealed: “Myself and my husband knew we needed to do something to try and find out what was going on.”

They returned to the hospital, encountering Dr Ngua who allegedly said to Bethan, something along the lines of: “You again! You were here on Sunday,” which Mrs James felt was “very, very dismissive”.

Bethan was observed by medical staff who revealed that her heart rate was very high. However, one medic responded to this by assuming the machine was broken, dismissing Bethan’s unusually high heart rate. The family were then told to return to the hospital the morning after.

“She was so unwell. They didn’t appreciate how unwell she was,” Mrs James explained, talking about the medical staff.

She further said that on Saturday 8th February Bethan had stayed in bed all day and “looked dreadful” by 4pm.

Mrs James persisted to ask if she could call an ambulance for her daughter, but Bethan kept saying that Dr Willis said she would be fine soon enough.

However, she decided to call 999 in the evening, with the first paramedic at the house being Paul Humphries, who allegedly did not record Bethan’s blood pressure properly.

Mr Humphries initially called for a P3 ambulance response, called for people who are lower priority, which later increased to a P2.

Mrs James said: “I don’t know why someone doesn’t get a P1 when they are so unwell.” Adding: “It’s heartbreaking as a mum to know that her life could have been saved. They didn’t know what they were doing.”

However, Mr Humphries told the inquest: “I didn’t come away from that incident thinking I did a bad job.”

Bethan and Mrs James arrives at the University Hospital of Wales only to wait in the car park until there was space for Bethan. It was heard by Mrs James that there was an available bed for Bethan, but she wasn’t “deemed unwell enough” to take it.

It was at this point Bethan was “hardly breathing” and was “so scared”, according to her mother.

After Bethan had been seen by the anaesthetist, Mrs James was asked to leave her daughter’s room at around 9:25pm, where a short time later she suffered a cardiac arrest.

Mrs James said, when she described medic’s working on her daughter: “As soon as I walked in, I knew she was dead.

“[Bethan] should have had the right care straight away. It’s heartbreaking as a mum to know that her life could have been saved. They didn’t know what they were doing.”

The inquest is still ongoing.

Featured image via Steve James on Facebook