Exclusive: My 13-year-old daughter’s death was preventable. Here’s why I’m speaking out
Merope Mills describes her anger at her daughter Martha's preventable death in hospital.
⚠️Warning: Some viewers may find the content of this video distressing.
Merope Mills’ daughter Martha died in hospital in August 2021. She had sustained a pancreatic trauma after falling off a bike on a family holiday, and spent weeks in a specialist unit where she developed sepsis.
An inquest concluded that her death had been preventable, and the hospital has apologised.
Merope, who is Editor of the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, believes that her daughter would still be alive today if doctors had not kept information from them about her condition, because they would have demanded a second opinion.
In a statement, Professor Clive Kay, Chief Executive of King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said, “I am deeply sorry that we failed Martha when she needed us most. Our focus now is on ensuring the specific learnings from her case are used to improve the care our teams provide - and that is what we are committed to doing”.
Merope spoke to BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour presenter Emma Barnett about what happened to her daughter and why she wanted to share Martha’s story with the world.
You can listen to Merope’s interview on BBC Sounds - it’s the Woman’s Hour episode from 6 October.
For details of organisations which offer support and advice, head to the BBC Action Line website.
