My ‘wonderful’ boy, aged 24, died after doctors ignored him, running naked and punching me – I knew it was serious

A mother claims doctors failed to detect a deadly condition in her 24-year-old son after he ran naked through the wards and punched her in the face.

Milo Peart died on July 4, 2020, after sodium levels in his blood fell below normal, causing swelling in his brain.

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This is a condition known as hyponatremia, but doctors didn’t realize it until it was too late.

Milo’s mother Gihan El Halwagi, 58, of Soberton, Southampton, watched Horror as her son’s condition worsened over the course of 36 hours and his behavior became increasingly erratic.

A coroner ruled that Milo’s premature death was due in part to a “serious failure to provide basic care” that amounted to “neglect” and said opportunities to potentially save his life had been missed.

“Milo’s death shouldn’t have happened,” Gihan told PA Real life.

“It’s unforgivable, I don’t have many words, something like this should never have happened.

“I have had a very difficult time since Milo died.

“I can’t bring him back, but I can try to stop something like this from happening again.”

The mother of three is now campaigning to end “preventable deaths” in hospitals across the UK and has launched a petition on change.org demanding government intervention.

‘SOMETHING WAS COMPLETELY OFF’

When Gihan was pregnant with Milo, an ultrasound showed her bladder was blocked, causing urine to back up and flood her kidneys.

He was born with chronic kidney failure and spent two years in Great Ormond Street Hospital before doctors deemed him well enough to receive a kidney transplant.

Milo, one of the youngest patients to receive a kidney, recovered quickly.

For the next At age 20, he lived a “wonderfully healthy and normal life,” playing sports at school and graduating from Chelsea Faculty of Arts.

Milo planned to move to London in 2019, but his kidney began to fail.

Placed on dialysis while waiting for a compatible donor, Milo had a second kidney transplant at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth in November of that year.

But his health suddenly deteriorated in the summer of 2020.

When I arrived at the hospital the next morning, Milo was turning left, right, left, right. He looked at me and punched me twice in the face

Gihan El Halwagi

On July 1, Milo spent the afternoon gardening and playing football with his brothers – Atti, 30, and Finn, 27 – before a family dinner with some games.

Gihan went to bed around 9pm and was sleeping when Milo suddenly entered his room a few hours later.

“He woke me up and said, ‘Mom, we need to fly a kite because of Covid-19,’” Gihan explained.

“I knew something was completely wrong. He was sweating and was not coherent.”

Gihan tried to convince Milo to lie down, but he was “restless” and wanted to take a shower.

His mother called 999, but when the ambulance arrived, Milo was unable to understand what people were saying or answer simple questions.

Despite Covid restrictions, Gihan was allowed to accompany him.

‘HE DIDN’T RECOGNIZE ME’

Milo was admitted to the emergency department at Queen Alexandra Hospital on July 2, where doctors suggested he might be suffering from encephalitis or meningitis.

They found that blood sodium levels were 129, lower than expected. The normal range for blood sodium levels is 135 to 145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L).

At around 5am, Gihan was told she could return home as Milo’s condition was stable, and the following morning a doctor called to say he was ready to return home.

Unfortunately, this would never happen, as just hours later, Gihan received another call saying that Milo had been found lying in the bathroom, completely disoriented.

“This happened two hours after a senior renal specialist told me my son could be discharged,” she said.

“Before Milo collapsed, his sodium levels were 125 and hospital protocol states that at this point the patient should have been immediately taken to the ICU, which was not done.

“And Milo is not a normal patient, he is a kidney patient, for God’s sake. They completely lost.”

Gihan rushed to the hospital, but when she arrived, Milo had already removed his intravenous catheters and was running naked through the ward, completely confused and disoriented.

If he had been sent to the ICU, he would probably still be alive

Gihan El Halwagi

It took three security guards to restrain Milo and get him back to bed before he was sedated for his own safety and that of other patients.

Milo’s brain was swollen due to a condition called hyponatremia, which occurs when the sodium concentration in the blood is abnormally low.

“When I got to the hospital the next morning, Milo was turning left, right, left, right,” Gihan said.

“He looked at me and punched me twice in the face – he didn’t recognize me.

“So the last time I spoke to my son was the night we had dinner and played, I never spoke to Milo again,” she added through tears.

Once sedated, Milo was not properly monitored for the next 16 hours, despite evidence that his sodium levels were falling.

Gihan said doctors performed a blood test early on July 3, but were unable to locate the results for several hours, and when they finally did, Milo’s sodium levels were 120.

“It was the first time they mentioned hyponatremia,” she said.

“If he had been sent to the ICU, he would probably still be alive.

“It was a simple case of decreasing fluids and increasing hypertonic saline – a fluid dissolved in water that contains sodium.”

At around 10am, Gihan left Milo to have a cup of coffee downstairs, which she “deeply regrets to this day.”

Milo suffered a heart attack and was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, where doctors rushed to increase the amount of sodium in his blood, but it was too late.

He was pronounced dead on the morning of July 4, 2020.

‘MISSED OPPORTUNITIES’

An inquest at Winchester Coroner’s Court concluded on 16 June 2023 and concluded that there were “gross failures amounting to negligence” and many “numerous missed opportunities to diagnose Milo’s hyponatremia”.

Senior Coroner Christopher Wilkinson reported based on the evidence that none of the three primary doctors who assessed Milo in the first 12 hours had a complete picture, leading to a series of “missed opportunities”.

The report states that over a 16-hour period there was “no systematic or consistent monitoring of Milo’s sodium levels”, due to “a lack of recording information and effective communication of that information between departments”.

Mr Wilkinson concluded that the hospital’s “serious failure to provide basic care” amounted to “negligence”.

Gihan has already launched A petition on Change.org demanding that the government investigate “preventable deaths occurring in all UK hospitals”.

“I don’t want people to think it’s justice for Milo because, like I said, I can’t bring Milo back,” she said.

“It’s about protecting future generations. The government needs to intervene.”

Penny Emerit, chief executive of Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, said: “I would like to express how sorry I am and again offer our sincerest condolences, on behalf of the Trust, to Milo’s family.

“We recognize that there are things we should have done differently with regards to the care Milo received.

“As a Trust, we have taken time to reflect on our investigation and take action to address the issues raised. This includes additional education of our staff on recognizing deteriorating patients and how to escalate the situation when there is cause for concern.

“This is an ongoing program of work which means families with any concerns can easily raise them with our critical care team.

“There are no words to change what happened, but I would like to assure Milo’s family and our patients that we continue to learn from Milo’s case and that safety remains our top priority.”

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