<\/p>\n
Savita Halappanavar went to the hospital with back pain. She was suffering a miscarriage. She died a week later.<\/p>\n
Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar (34), an engineer at Boston Scientific in Galway, says she asked several times over a three-day period that the pregnancy be terminated. He says that, having been told she was miscarrying, and after one day in severe pain, Ms Halappanavar asked for a medical termination.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here are some details:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctor told us the cervix was fully dilated, amniotic fluid was leaking and unfortunately the baby wouldn\u2019t survive.\u201d The doctor, he says, said it should be over in a few hours. There followed three days, he says, of the foetal heartbeat being checked several times a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cSavita was really in agony. She was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby. When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning Savita asked if they could not save the baby could they induce to end the pregnancy. The consultant said, \u2018As long as there is a foetal heartbeat we can\u2019t do anything\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain on Tuesday morning, the ward rounds and the same discussion. The consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita [a Hindu] said: \u2018I am neither Irish nor Catholic\u2019 but they said there was nothing they could do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat evening she developed shakes and shivering and she was vomiting. She went to use the toilet and she collapsed. There were big alarms and a doctor took bloods and started her on antibiotics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next morning I said she was so sick and asked again that they just end it, but they said they couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
At lunchtime the foetal heart had stopped and Ms Halappanavar was brought to theatre to have the womb contents removed. \u201cWhen she came out she was talking okay but she was very sick. That\u2019s the last time I spoke to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 11 pm he got a call from the hospital. \u201cThey said they were shifting her to intensive care. Her heart and pulse were low, her temperature was high. She was sedated and critical but stable. She stayed stable on Friday but by 7pm on Saturday they said her heart, kidneys and liver weren\u2019t functioning. She was critically ill. That night, we lost her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Halappanavar took his wife\u2019s body home on Thursday, November 1st, where she was cremated and laid to rest on November 3rd.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Official autopsy results:<\/p>\n
An autopsy carried out by Dr Grace Callagy two days later found she died of septicaemia \u201cdocumented ante-mortem\u201d and E.col<\/a>i ESBL.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What a nightmare… it’s beyond a nightmare.<\/p>\n