It was New Year’s Eve when Katie Widdowson and her partner of over five years, Dean Smith, engaged in a sex game that involved tying Widdowson up by her wrists.
The 24-year-old Birmingham, UK resident sought hospital treatment for wrist pain afterwards, but doctors diagnosed her with a simple sprain and sent her home, The Telegraph reports.
But Widdowson’s condition worsened, with searing pain and blistering. She was rushed to Heartlands Hospital in an ambulance but had a heart attack on the way. Despite doctors’ best efforts, she died at 5.20am the following morning.
Widdowson, who leaves behind a young child, was found to have contracted the flesh-eating bacteria Necrotising Fasciitis.
“Everything was black and blistered – it looked like someone had poured a boiling hot kettle over her arm,” her mother, Patricia, told The Sun.
Widdowson’s partner, Dean Smith, told the inquest that he doesn’t “remember much” about the sex game they were playing, adding, “It’s not anything we have ever done before.”
The inquest has heard that the doctors Widdowson saw in her first visit missed crucial warning signs, such as an abnormal pulse rate and temperature.
“The hospital’s complete and utter neglect killed her,” her mother told The Sun. “When she went into the Good Hope Hospital on the 1st she had a MEWS [Modified Early Warning Score] of six which is a red flag for sepsis but this was ignored.”
