A grieving widow has opened up about the heartache of watching her son Jacob grow up without his father, following a tragic series of medical events that began with a misdiagnosis by a doctor.
Michael Reynolds, who was only 29, sought medical attention from his local general practitioner in November 2023. He was experiencing a persistent sore and swollen throat accompanied by a cough that had lasted two to three months.
Despite being a new father to his son Jacob, Michael’s visit to the doctor only resulted in a prescription for a steroid nasal spray before being sent on his way. Unfortunately, his condition worsened, and he returned to the clinic the next day with increased difficulty swallowing, this time consulting a different physician.
Michael, a truck driver, was struggling to eat and swallow, feeling as though his throat was closing. He had resorted to spitting into a bowl due to his inability to swallow.
Concerned about his condition, he inquired if he should go to A&E, the UK equivalent of the emergency room, but his fears were dismissed. Instead, he received a diagnosis of tonsillitis and was prescribed oral antibiotics.
On his way home from the pharmacy, where he collected his medication, Michael reunited with his wife Charlotte and their son. Tragically, he collapsed and experienced a seizure shortly afterward.
Michael, who resided in Boston, a town in East England, tragically passed away the next morning after being rushed to the hospital.
Charlotte, his 31-year-old widow, expressed her sorrow: “Watching Jacob grow up without his daddy by his side is devastating and we miss Michael every single day.”
“Michael meant everything to us and losing him has left a huge hole in our lives that will never go away. We’d do anything to bring him back,” she added.
An inquest conducted in December 2023 concluded that there was a missed opportunity to hospitalize Michael for urgent treatment. The post-mortem revealed that he suffered a cardiac arrest due to a lack of oxygen, caused by his throat closing.
The coroner determined that Michael’s death was the result of a hypoxic cardiac arrest due to an upper airway obstruction and epiglottitis, which is the swelling of the flap that covers the windpipe during swallowing.
Charlotte shared her thoughts on the inquest: “The inquest and reliving everything again has been particularly upsetting, but at least I now have some answers as to why Michael’s no longer with us and I will be able to explain this to Jacob when he is old enough to understand.”
“All I can hope for now is that by sharing our story, it can lead to improvements in care for others and more awareness around the signs of epiglottitis and the need for emergency treatment, as it’s something I’d never even heard of before,” she stated.
She concluded, “I wouldn’t want anyone going through what we have.”