Family's anger at leukaemia death

He was planning a romantic holiday in New York - and a proposal to his girlfriend.

But TV advertising executive Lee Cafferkey died before he could realise his dream. He had leukaemia and died from a brain haemorrhage after three doctors insisted he was suffering from migraine.

An inquest ruled yesterday that medical neglect had contributed to his death. Today Louise Turton said that his family are now planning to sue over the death.

"The horrible thing is that just a few little things could have saved his life," said Ms Turton, 29.

She described Mr Cafferkey, 30, as "fun-loving and romantic" and told of how they had planned to take a break in America. "Lee was saying he'd like to get engaged and we had talked about getting married," she said.

Mr Cafferkey twice visited the Accident and Emergency department at Chelsea and Westminster hospital when he feared he had suffered a stroke, after losing feeling down one side of his body. He also saw his GP. But an inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court heard that his fears were dismissed.

A blood test, which would have shown he was suffering from leukaemia, was performed by hospital staff but he was sent home before the full results had been reported. Laboratory staff at Hammersmith Hospital Trust failed to alert doctors to his condition until it was too late.

The coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, recorded a verdict of death by natural causes contributed to by neglect. He said: "While I accept that the trusts involved have instigated many changes since this death, I nevertheless commend to them that they consider instigating a system of spot checks on an irregular basis to ensure compliance."

Mr Cafferkey's family has pledged to pursue the matter through the civil courts. "We are satisfied the verdict reflects the failures in the

hospital system which led to Lee's tragic death," they said. Ms Turton told of her anger at the failing which meant the blood test results were not reported to doctors as a matter of urgency.

"If they had been, Lee would have been able to start treatment and the experts say he would have had a 90 per cent chance of survival," she said.

His funeral was attended by 500 friends and family. "Lee was funny, a bit of a court jester, a real character but at the same time very loyal and private about his personal life," said Ms Turton, who lived with him in Clapham. "He had a lot of friends."

A Manchester United fan, he played for a local Sunday league team, studied for a marketing degree at Luton University before moving to London and a successful career as group head of an advertising division at Channel 4.

Mr Cafferkey died two weeks after he first complained of losing feeling down one side of his body in January last year.

The couple went to the Chelsea and Westminster A&E department that afternoon. He was seen by a doctor who said his symptoms were common to migraine sufferers.

A more senior doctor agreed and he was sent home with painkillers. Over the weekend his symptoms worsened. He was having difficulty walking, had a pain behind his left eye and felt disorientated.

On Monday 27 January he went to his GP who advised him to revisit the hospital, where he had a blood test.

He saw yet another doctor who again diagnosed migraine - although the medic had not received the full blood test results that would have revealed leukaemia. A week later Cafferkey was having difficulty breathing and Ms Turton called the GP for a home visit. Cafferkey was admitted to Chelsea and Westminster in the early hours of the morning.

"They got him into intensive care, sedated him and got him on a ventilator. And that was it," said Ms Turton. "By the time his mother and stepfather got there he was unconscious. They never had a chance to speak to him, because he died about five days later."