Valerie Kneale, 75, suffered a minor stroke after slipping from a kitchen chair and was in good spirits before she was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, where she rapidly went downhill
A stroke patient died after what an inquest heard was a “forceful sexual assault” at a Blackpool hospital.
Valerie Kneale, 75, had been admitted to the stroke unit of Blackpool Victoria Hospital in November 2018 after falling from a kitchen chair at her home in Knott End on Sea. Her family initially believed she had suffered “a minor stroke” and felt reassured it would not be fatal. Before being taken to hospital, Valerie had joked with her husband Bill when he told her not to “do anything stupid.” She replied: “Like die? Don’t be so bloody stupid.” Bill, their son Mike, and daughter Sharon rushed her to A&E on Monday, November 12. At hospital, Valerie’s ankle was put in a cast and scans confirmed a bleed on her brain. Relatives said she appeared to be talking normally and had accepted she had suffered a stroke when they left her that evening.
By the next day, her condition had deteriorated. Sharon said she found her mother “very agitated.” A doctor told the family a further bleed had occurred overnight. They were told she might be transferred to Royal Preston Hospital for surgery, but that if she survived, she would likely remain in a “vegetative state” and dependent on 24-hour nursing care.
Bill said: “We made the heart-breaking decision to let nature take its course. It was a horrendous decision to make and I cried uncontrollably.” Valerie had previously told family members she never wanted to lose her independence or be a burden to anyone. She was transferred to a private room but the family noticed she was making “painful whimpering noises” and scratching at her chest and thigh area.
“A staff member said it was an involuntary movement but looking back I believe she was trying to indicate or tell us something”, Sharon said. That day, Valerie also made two statements – “no response” and “babies do that”.
“The phrases were not something mum would normally say”, Mike said. “I thought they might have been the last thing she heard. I was worried because I wasn’t expecting to hear anything because she was in a comatose state. Sharon mentioned it to a member of staff who said it was normal.”
Mrs Kneale had also been fitted with a catheter, although there had been no discussion with the family about the procedure, the inquest heard. The family remained by her bedside until she died on Friday, November 16. On Thursday her daughter Sharon noticed a rolled up towel had been placed between her mum’s legs.
“I thought it was to catch drips from the catheter or to stop her legs chafing. To this day I am none the wiser as to who put the towel there or why. There was never a conversation about the towel. It was literally a chance finding.
“I regret that I left mum alone in the hospital on Monday evening”, she added. “I question myself why I didn’t just stay. I never saw my mum again with her eyes open after that.”
A post mortem confirmed Mrs Kneale had suffered a significant right frontal cerebral haemorrhage, however Home Office Pathologist Dr Alison Armour did not feel this was the cause of death. She concluded Mrs Kneale died as a result of internal and external injuries “caused by a forceable sexual assault after she was admitted to hospital”. The inquest continues.