Cancer patient died after ‘chemo side effects were mistaken for anxiety’
A BLOOD cancer patient died a day after starting chemotherapy because medics mistook side effects for anxiety, an inquest heard.
Siaron Bonds, 26, developed acute tumour lysis syndrome, where substances are released by dying tumour cells too fast for the body to cope.
She died at hospital in Bangor, North Wales, in 1994 — sparking a 25-year campaign by parents Nerys and John.
A review in 2008 found care was “inadequate.”
The couple hope the inquest will finally “provide answers and prevent any further such grief.”
Mrs Bonds said her daughter appeared to have become “weak and not herself” and that she was in an “awful lot of pain.”
She added: “The difference in Siaron was unbelievable.
"I went to have a word with the doctor and I asked why she was so ill.”
Mrs Bonds told the Caernarfon hearing she had asked a consultant why Siaron had become so ill and was informed she was “suffering from anxiety.”
The real cause was found only hours before she died, and the social worker died of a cardiac arrest.
Since Ms Bonds’ death in 1994, no other patients have died as a result of ATLS on the ward and a more “robust complaints system” is now in place, the court was told.
The inquest continues.
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