'It's as if I signed a deal with the devil because I had the procedure outside the state, even though the HSE sent me there'

A YOUNG Trim mother who suffered catastrophic injuries during what was meant to be a routine medical procedure last October has been left with life-changing injuries.

Sarah Costello (36), is now in constant pain, struggles to walk, has nerve damage to her hand, PTSD and ongoing breathing problems.

Sarah's injuries resulted from a procedure she underwent in Northern Ireland through the National Treatment Purchase Fund and she says she has struggled since to get adequate care at home.

"It is as if I signed a deal with the devil because I had the procedure outside the state, even through the HSE sent me there," she said.

"I was told I would need a scan and CT angiogram eight weeks after I left the hospital in the north, but I didn't get an appointment until June - eight months later. I had to wait a year for treatment for my PTSD and nothing is being done to treat my symptoms."

On 8th October last year, Sarah was supposed to have a routine keyhole procedure for endometriosis. She was referred to a private hospital in Northern Ireland by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, having been on a waiting list for treatment in Drogheda for some time.

Within the first minute of surgery, her aorta was severed, leaving her in cardiac arrest, requiring 15 units of blood, and hours of life-saving emergency surgery from her chest to her stomach.

"There was no vascular surgeon in the hospital and they waited an hour for a doctor to come from an NHS hospital. He was in the middle of an emergency aortic repair in the public hospital."

The surgeon rushed to her theatre, performing a life saving aortic iliac bypass and she was transferred on life support to the NHS hospital where she spent four days in ICU and eight days in total.

Sarah's lungs collapsed but against the odds, she survived, but now lives with lifelong complications: a synthetic aortic bypass, nerve damage in her leg and foot, weakness in her left hand, PTSD and ongoing breathing problems. She faces the terrifying risk that her bypass could fail, which could cost her her leg — or worse.

Her husband Stephen recalls. "I was told at the time she had a five per cent chance of survival and that the first 12 to 24 hours were critical.

"When she came home she could only walk a few steps and had to sleep in the sitting room because she couldn't managed the stairs.

"She was still very ill and I was afraid I was going to lose her. She was traumatised and in a lot of pain."

When Sarah was discharged from the NHS hospital she was told she would needed scanning in the Mater Hospital within eight weeks.

"We just couldn't get an appointment," said Stephen. "I pleaded with the hospital, the HSE, the National Treatment Purchase Fund, but it was eight months before they saw her. We ended up having to go back up the north."

While Sarah is now going to have regular scans, nothing is being done to treat her leg pain or the nerve pain in her hands.

"I was absolutely terrified when I came home from hospital. Every day I worry about the complications. I have nightmares and I don't get much sleep."

Although her consultant in the north said she needed an urgent appointment with a psychologist, it was only just recently the HSE provided counselling.

"The care I got in the NHS hospital was wonderful. Everyone was so kind and compassionate, but it has been completely different here at home. Nothing is being done about my symptoms. I have poor blood supply to my leg. I also have nerve entrapment in my elbows and need surgery."

Sarah has ongoing breathing problems, trauma, and exhaustion. The surgery for endometriosis was abandoned at the time and the painful condition has been exacerbated by her internal scarring,

Sarah and Stephen, parents to two daughters aged 8 and 14, have already taken on debt and fallen behind on bills as they seek private care.

"The public system, the HSE, the NTPF is doing nothing for me."

Sarah has been attending a psychologist privately. Later this month she will attend a private clinic in Galway for a CT angiogram on her bypass and leg as well as ultrasounds. She will then travel to Birmingham for nerve conduction studies, a high resolution MRI and treatment.

A recent expert report said Sarah has life changing, lifelong vascular injury that requires surveillance twice yearly.

To pay for the private treatment, Stephen has set up a Gofundme page to cover Sarah’s urgent medical costs, travel, and therapy. The page can be found by searching help-sarah-to-access-treatment-after-surgical-injury.

Sarah and Stephen decided to tell their story to make people aware of what can happen.

"It seems to us that there are no provision or protocols in the public system for people who are treated through the National Treatment Purchase Fund if something goes wrong," says Stephen.

A spokesperson for the National Treatment Purchase Fund said: “Patient care during the outsourcing process is governed by a legal contract between the National Treatment Purchase Fund and the relevant treating hospital. The NTPF does not comment on individual cases”.