The daughter of a former England cricketer was ‘dismissed’ by doctors multiple times before her death in hospital, an inquest has heard
Bethan James, 21, daughter of ex-Glamorgan star Steve James, passed away just a day after being admitted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on February 9, 2020.
Her sports journalist father had been covering the Six Nations rugby match between Wales and Ireland in Dublin when his daughter was taken seriously ill.But due to weather delays was unable to get home and see her before she died.
The inquest, which opened at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court, heard how Bethan, a journalism student with dreams of advocating for those with Crohn’s disease, had been battling severe symptoms for weeks, The Daily Record reported.
A post-mortem examination found Bethan died from a combination of sepsis, pneumonia and Crohn’s disease.
Her heartbroken mother, Jane James, told the hearing that her daughter was ‘dismissed’ by multiple doctors and had visited the hospital several times in the days leading up to her death.
‘It’s heartbreaking as a mum to know that her life could have been saved,’ Mrs James said. She described the response from doctors as ‘appalling’.
She described her daughter as a ‘caring and beautiful’ person who always put others before herself .
Bethan was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2019 at the age of 20, but had suffered with gastrointestinal issues for most of her life.
The inquest heard Bethan had launched a vlog to share her experiences, even featuring in a BBC documentary alongside Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden, who also suffers from the condition. Tragically, the programme aired after Bethan’s death and was dedicated to her memory.
Paying tribute to her daughter, Mrs James said that Bethan put people before herself and was more interested in other people and their stories. She said her daughter would have made a ‘brilliant journalist’.
Mrs James recounted the devastating chain of events leading to her daughter’s death. On January 25, 2020, Bethan felt unusually tired and short of breath while out with a friend.
By the following Sunday, her condition had worsened dramatically—she struggled to hold a cup and couldn’t lift her arm. ‘On Tuesday she could drive, and by Sunday she couldn’t hold a cup in her hand,’ her mother told the inquest.
At an emergency appointment on Monday, January 27, her GP Dr Jonathan Carnell set up an urgent referral at Llandough hospital for her respiratory symptoms to be investigated.
Notes from the appointment read that Bethan may have been suffering from community acquired pneumonia, the inquest heard.
Mrs James said medics did not tell either mother or daughter about the diagnosis and instead told them that they thought she may have a chest infection and that she should take antibiotics as a precaution.
She added that if they had been told about ‘pneumonia’, the family would have taken the illness more seriously. Bethan had been determined to go to university to deliver a presentation.
Bethan drove herself to the university but said she felt exhausted by the time she got home, the inquest heard. Her right arm became numb and experienced more shortness of breath.
Over the following days she began experiencing involuntary movements in her right arm and found it difficult to use her right hand, it was heard.
By Tuesday, Bethan was struggling to hold a cup and could not hold her arm above her head.
She was suffering abdominal pain to the point of not being able to tolerate food.
The family took Bethan to A&E at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on Sunday, February 2. Mrs James told a triage nurse about the previous appointment in Llandough, but described the response they received as abrupt.
Mrs James described another doctor as dismissive to her daughter’s chest symptoms, saying he did not think it was of ‘any significance’.
Medics suggested her symptoms might be due to a hemiplegic migraine, but Mrs James believed Bethan was not fully assessed.
The next day her daughter collapsed after being so exhausted from being at hospital, she said.
Despite her worsening condition, Bethan was reluctant to return to hospital after feeling dismissed. Paramedics noted that her heart rate was high, but she couldn’t be forced to go to hospital
On February 5, her symptoms escalated, with numbness spreading to her right leg. They returned to A&E, where the family encountered Dr Chen Wen Ngua, who reportedly said, ‘You again! You were here on Sunday,’ leaving Bethan feeling humiliated. Mrs James described Dr Ngua as ‘very, very dismissive’.
While in the waiting area of the hospital, a medic took Bethan’s heart rate. The medic assumed the machine was broken after recording an unusually high rate.
‘She was so unwell. They didn’t appreciate how unwell she was,’ Mrs James told Coroner Patricia Morgan.
The family were told to return to the hospital for a neurology referral but were later told there was no record of the appointment and that medics did not know why they were there, Mrs James said this was ‘appalling’.
Mrs James said Bethan’s heart rate was again off the scale and was once again dismissed as a faulty machine error.
Dr Mark Willis organised a blood test for Bethan, but by the time they came Bethan was so dehydrated medics could not draw blood and she was sent to her GP instead.
Dr Willis told the inquest when he examined Bethan he found only mild weakness in her right arm. He said neurological symptoms experienced by her were rare in cases of sepsis.
On Saturday, February 8, Mrs James said Bethan had been in bed all day and by the afternoon Mrs James said she looked ‘dreadful’ with pale nails and dark circles under her eyes. Despite Bethan’s protests, Mrs James called an ambulance.
Rapid response paramedic Paul Humphries arrived but initially classified the call as low priority, later upgrading it.
Bethan arrived at the hospital at 7.45pm but was left waiting in the ambulance. Mrs James claimed a bed was available but her daughter wasn’t deemed sick enough to warrant it.
Mr Humphries defended his actions, saying he did not believe he did a bad job.
By 9.15pm, Bethan was moved to resuscitation, where medics struggled to insert a line.
Mrs James described the hospital as ‘chaos’ as medics struggled to administer a line into Bethan.
After an anaesthetist sedated her, Bethan suffered a cardiac arrest. ‘As soon as I walked in, I knew she was dead,’ her mother said.
Mrs James told the inquest that at no point was the possibility that her daughter had sepsis mentioned and that the proper protocol could have saved her life.
The inquest continues.