Savita Halappanavar's husband's detailed diary of days leading up to her death

Praveen releases his account of the events that lead to his wife’s death at a Galway hospital

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Praveen Halappanavar pictured with his wife Savita at their home in Galway

Photo by Asia Press

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"The consultant returns mid-afternoon....She arrives with the scanning machine for the baby. I am asked to leave but this time I do not budge - I want to know what is happening to my wife.

"I notice there is no heartbeat. Savita is in terrible pain and they are giving her antibiotics and inserting these thick syringes into her back that she finds very painful. ..

"Suddenly things start happening very quickly. Other doctors arrive from the high dependency unit and I am asked to sign a consent form for a central line to be inserted into her neck. They rush her into theatre where, while they are putting the central line in, she delivers the baby.

"They tell me later that the baby as well as the placenta has come out. I can't tell you how relieved I am in that moment... the doctors move Savita to the high dependency unit so they can keep a close eye on her because of the infection. I am reassured by the doctor that she will be OK and when I come to see her, she is sitting up so I tell myself that she's going to be fine.

"Shortly after, the hospital staff encourage me to go home.... I am not home long when I get a call from the hospital saying Savita is being moved to the Intensive Care Unit. When I arrive at the hospital she is sedated and on a ventilator. She never regains consciousness.

"THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25: ...Later that evening I find a passing doctor who tells me she has septic shock but that: 'She's young, she'll get away with it.' I go home that night slightly reassured but anxious. They use the words 'critically stable', and that worries me.

"FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26: At lunchtime a doctor gives me the results of Savita's blood tests. I am told she has septicaemia and E.coli and that she is still critical with no change.

"SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27: Somehow I get through the day with the support of my friends. Late in the evening I am told by a doctor: 'She's critically ill; very, very ill.'

"SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28: ... After midnight I go to the hospital chapel and start praying furiously for her. I am still there when the nurse comes looking for me.

'She's almost dying,' she says. I rush to her side where hospital staff are pumping her heart. I sit down and hold her hand, praying hard and fast ...

TO READ PRAVEEN HALAPPANAVAR'S FULL ACCOUNT CLICK HERE

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