Heart attack dad dies after being given indigestion medicine

12:14pm Wednesday 12th March 2008

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A devastated family is demanding answers after a 39-year-old dad died of a heart attack hours after being given indigestion medicine at Mayday Hospital.

Louis Aurokium began suffering from chest and upper body pain at about 5pm on Wednesday, March 5, while he was helping his brother Steve re-decorate his restaurant.

“We understand Mrs Aurokium is not happy with the care Louis received and when she contacts us we will carry out a full investigation and answer her concerns."

Mayday spokesman

The 39-year-old dad-of-three was taken by Steve to Croydon's Mayday Hospital's accident and emergency ward, where he was seen within five minutes of arriving at about 5.45pm.

He was thought to have been suffering from multiple symptoms and placed on a heart monitor. He was given a host of medicines including pain killers, circulatory drugs and medicine for acute indigestion.

His devastated wife Santa said he was then told to sit in the waiting room until he was called for a chest x-ray. But to her shock he collapsed outside a toilet and suffered a seizure.

Mrs Aurokium said she started shouting for help but no one came for almost 10 minutes. She said a doctor finally arrived and told Mr Aurokium to get to his feet. Another patient was forced to help get him into a bed.

Mrs Aurokium said: "He looked scruffy and unshaven so I think they may have thought he was a drunk. They kept asking him how much he drank and how often, whether it was big glasses or small glasses."

She said he was writhing in agony and had another seizure. Fearing something was badly wrong Mrs Aurokium again shouted for help, trying to catch the attention of medics who were, "laughing and joking about their plans for the evening".

Eventually, after more than 10 minutes, a nurse arrived and immediately put an oxygen mask on Mr Aurokium and pressed a panic button.

The patient was then rushed into a resuscitation room where a doctor tried to revive him.

He was pronounced dead at 9.58pm, a little more than four hours after arriving.

Mr Aurokium's brother Steve said: "These doctors do six or more years of training so they can know everything about what is wrong with a person, so how did this happen?

"I said to the doctor that he had just killed my brother. He wouldn't look at me and he didn't say a word, he just nodded."

The results of a postmortem examination concluded that Mr Aurokium died from natural causes after suffering a massive heart attack.

A Mayday Hospital spokesman said: "We understand Mrs Aurokium is not happy with the care Louis received and when she contacts us we will carry out a full investigation and answer her concerns.

"Until this investigation is complete it would be inappropriate for us to comment any further publicly."