‘Loving’ little girl, 6, dies after ‘catastrophic bleed’ when minor NHS procedure went wrong

A “BEAUTIFUL” six-year-old girl died when a needle accidentally hit her artery during a “minor” hospital procedure – and now an urgent warning has been made.

Amelia Ridout suffered “massive, catastrophic” internal bleeding and died after she went to an NHS hospital with a suspected blood condition.

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Amelia had been diagnosed with pancytopenia, a condition where the body is not producing enough blood cells including red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets[/caption]

An inquest heard that even though a paediatric doctor saw a warning sign that something had gone wrong during the biopsy, a consultant haematologist said nothing raised their concerns.

The doctor was told to finish the procedure, and shortly after it concluded Amelia went into cardiac arrest.

Tragically Amelia died during emergency surgery to fix the bleed.

Elizabeth Gray, area coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, has called for national guidelines to be published for this type of procedure following the mistake.

Her father Matthew Ridout paid tribute to the little girl who showed “love” to everyone she met.

The inquest into Amelia’s death heard she went to Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, on June 16 2022.

She was diagnosed with pancytopenia, a condition where the body is not producing enough blood cells including red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

To find out what the problem was, she underwent a bone marrow biopsy, which the coroner called a “minor surgical procedure”.

A paediatric oncology specialist doctor carried out the bilateral bone marrow aspirate and trephine procedure, with the understanding that it was possible Amelia had cancer.

She was put under general anaesthetic for the procedure, which involves taking fluid and samples of bone marrow from hip bones.

When the doctor took out the hollow needle which had been used to take a sample of bone marrow they noticed a spurt of blood.

The coroner said: “Following the completion of the left sided bone marrow aspirate and trephine procedure the Paediatric Oncology Speciality Doctor carrying out the bone marrow aspirate and trephine procedure noted a spurt of blood on removal of the trephine needle and queried the sample extracted.

“The supervising Consultant Haematologist was called in to review and confirmed that there was no signs to raise concern and that the bone marrow aspirate and trephine procedure should be concluded.”

Shortly afterwards, Amelia started to deteriorate and rapidly went into cardiac arrest.

Coroner Ms Gray said: “During the procedure, the trephine needle accidentally penetrated through the pelvic bone and pierced the iliac vessels causing massive, catastrophic bleeding internally.”

‘The bleeding couldn’t be stopped’

The paediatric resuscitation team attended promptly, and it was quickly established that Amelia was suffering an internal bleed because of the biopsy.

She was rushed into emergency surgery but “the bleeding could not be stopped”.

The coroner said: “Shortly after the start of Amelia Ridout’s surgery, Amelia Ridout went into PEA [Pulseless Electrical Activity] arrest and needed chest compressions.

“The surgical team continued to treat Amelia Ridout’s internal injury and identified a defect in the anterior arterial wall of the external iliac artery, the appearances of which were consistent with the anticipated needle injury caused by the bone marrow aspirate and trephine procedure.

“Amelia Ridout’s condition continued to deteriorate despite continued resuscitation efforts.

“The clinical team took the decision that continued efforts would be futile and Amelia Ridout was declared deceased.”

Warning to the NHS

In a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, Ms Gray warned the NHS that guidelines need to be established.

She wrote to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the British Society for Haematology and NHS England.

She asked the organisations “To consider the development and publication of a national guidelines and standard operating procedure for the carrying out of Bone Marrow Aspirate (BMA) and trephine biopsy to include recommended methodology”.

The coroner also called for a database to be created to record bone marrow biopsy procedures and their outcomes.

The organisations must respond to the report by April 8 2025.

Dad’s tribute

Amelia’s father Mr Ridout paid tribute to her on his JustGiving fundraising page for The Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Charity.

He tackled a Three Peaks challenge on what would have been her seventh birthday to be ‘as close to Millie as possible’.

Mr Ridout said: “I lost my beautiful daughter Amelia ‘Millie’ tragically last year after a doctor pushed to deep during a BMA [bone marrow aspiration] last year, ending Amelia’s life instantly that day.

“A day that will echo forever in my mind.

“Amelia, bless her soul had a rough entrance into the world also, arriving a little too early weighing 2lbs 4 oz.

“She had to spend her first six weeks in the Luton and Dunstable Hospitals NIC unit before being released home on Father’s Day, my first Father’s Day… the best gift ever!

“During Amelia’s short time in life she managed to touch/teach and express love to all she meet [sic], most of all her family and friends.

“Although she did have a tendency to flaunt her sassy nature and have what I called creative play and life science lessons in the house and garden of [sic] our family house.

“Like the time she redecorated the house and dog with a black marker pen.

“With the balance of being the only child to help a friend when he was injured, she would sit and hold there [sic] hand until they felt better.

“I myself almost meet the point of wanting to be with Amelia, but knowing the meaning of life Amelia taught me in her short time has helped me to focus on living life for the love of life.”