Amateur footballer died from flesh-eating virus after being misdiagnosed, inquest hears
Luke Abrahams was eventually rushed to hospital saying he "could not take the pain any longer"
An amateur footballer died from a flesh-eating virus after doctors told him his symptoms were tonsillitis and sciatica, an inquest has heard.
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Luke Abrahams, 20, who played for for Northampton Town, died from sepsis and necrotising fasciitis on January 23 2023 at Northampton General Hospital.
Days before his death, Abrahams, from East Hunsbury, Northampton, complained of a sore throat and went to see his GP who prescribed him antibiotics for tonsillitis.
Soon after the railway engineer suffered severe leg pain and became immobile. His family contacted an out-of-hours service three days before his death and he was told he had sciatica.
Abrahams was then rushed to hospital saying he "could not take the pain any longer".
He died the following day.
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A postmortem found he has been suffering from a form of bacterial infection called septicaemia, Lemierre syndrome, and necrotising fasciitis, a rare flesh-eating virus.
His death was recorded, at the time, as natural causes.
Parents but parents Richard Abrahams, 60, and Julie Needham, 49, believed a "catalogue of errors" led to his death and they fought for a formal investigation.
On the first day of the inquest an ambulance boss admitted Abrahams should have been taken to hospital days before his death and was instead wrongly treated for sciatica.
Susan Jevons, Head of Patient Safety at East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), told the inquest: "Luke should have been transferred to hospital on the 20th and he should not have been discharged at home."
When ambulance staff came to his home, Abrahams said his pain score was 9 out of 10.
The court was told a score of 9 places the patients in the "red" category - meaning he should have been taken to hospital.
Giving evidence, the out-of-hours doctor, Dr Olalowo Olaitan, who wrongly diagnosed sciatica following a video consultation said he did not notice any "red flag" symptoms during their online consultation.
Dr Olaitan said he offered stronger pain relief and prescribed naproxen, as he believed Luke was suffering from sciatica.
Asked why the throat infection was not explored further, he replied: "Based on the fact Luke said it was getting better and he was on antibiotics, I didn't explore that further."
"Ideally, I always want to see my patients face to face," he added.
The inquest, being heard by assistant coroner Sophie Lomas at The Guildhall in Northampton, is expected to last three days.