A mother and her disabled daughter were found dead in their home, months after the former called 999 pleading for help.
47-year-old Alphonsine Djiako Leuga and 18-year-old Loraine Choulla were found deceased in their Radford home in May 2024, after individuals grew concerned about their well-being.
An inquest into their deaths, led by assistant coroner Amanda Bewley, began on Monday. It revealed that in February 2024, Alphonsine had called 999 requesting an ambulance, saying she felt cold and was unable to move.
However, an ambulance was never dispatched to her home.
According to pathologist Dr. Stuart Hamilton, Alphonsine’s official cause of death was pneumonia, while her daughter’s was “undetermined.”
Loraine was completely dependent on her mother as she had Down’s syndrome and learning disabilities.
Dr. Hamilton said he cannot rule out the possibility that Alphonsine died on the same day she called 999 for help.
A month before the call, Alphonsine had been admitted to the hospital with a lower respiratory tract infection and had required multiple blood transfusions.
Despite her doctors’ advice to stay in the hospital, she chose to discharge herself as her daughter was waiting for her at home.
She had agreed to return the following day. However, she never went back and the hospital was unable to get in touch with her.
Shortly after, she called 999 requesting an ambulance, telling the operator she “felt cold and couldn’t move.”
Missed Opportunity
According to the call transcript, the call operator asked Alphonsine several times what language she was speaking and whether she needed a translator.
Alphonsine did not answer those questions. Instead, she asked the operator again to send an ambulance and provided her address.
“Please come, please”, were her last words before the call ended.
Susan Jevons, who leads the coroner’s service at East Midlands Ambulance Services, said there was an attempt to call Alphonsine back, but no one answered.
Believing it to be an abandoned call, the emergency medical advisor ultimately decided not to send an ambulance to the address.
Jevons said that “never should have happened” as they had Alphonsine’s phone number, address, and description of her symptoms.
An internal investigation confirmed that there was “a missed opportunity” for help to arrive the day she called.
Jevons apologized on behalf of East Midlands Ambulance Service.
The inquest will also investigate whether Alphonsine died before her daughter, and if she did, whether there were any missed opportunities to save the teen.
At the time of the post-mortem examination, Loraine weighed 59 kg, down from 108 kg just a year earlier.
The pathologist also confirmed that her bladder and stomach were empty at the point of the examination.
