An inquest has heard that mother called 999 and asked for help for dependant daughter months before they were both found dead at their home in Nottingham – while no ambulance was ever sent
A desperate 999 call made by a mother just before he own death pleading for help for her dependent daughter, who was also found dead, led to no ambulance being sent – despite being told their full address.
The inquest into Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, opened at Nottingham Coroners Court today and is expected to last five days to understand her and her 18-year-old daughter Loraine Choulla’s deaths. The inquest heard that a desperate 999 call had been made by Ms Leuga three months before her body was found, pleading for help for her daughter before the call was dropped.
The court was told that during the emergency call on February 2 last year, Ms Leuga said “I need help for my daughter” and “I’m in the bed, I feel cold and can’t move” as well as giving her address in Nottingham before cutting the call.
No ambulances were sent to the scene, and months later, on May 21, her and her daughters’ bodies were found at the address. Speaking at 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 dispatch officers.
Ms Jevons said the attempts had been made to call Ms Leuga back but were unsuccessful. She added: “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.”
But Ms Jevons was told by the coroner that sending an ambulance may have been “the difference between life and death” for her teenage daughter and that if the inquest found that Loraine had died after her mother had been a “missed opportunity” to save her life. To which Ms Jevons responded: “Yes, there was a missed opportunity for an ambulance to attend Alphonsine when she requested one.”
In a tragic turn of events, Ms Leuga had undergone a blood transfusion just weeks before the call and was critically ill, but to care for her daughter, she was given a “pragmatic discharge”.
Trying to establish the cause of death, pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton said that the pair likely died weeks to months before they were found, rather than hours or even days and while the initial cause of death for Ms Leuga was pneumonia (the day of the call), her daughter’s cause of death was not established.
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.”
The pathologist was also asked if Loraine’s death may have been from dehydration or malnutrition. Dr Hamilton answered: “There is nothing in my findings that says any of that is incorrect.”
The inquest is expected to continue for the rest of the week.