A man whose ‘bad headaches’ were allegedly dismissed by doctors as an ear infection died just weeks later – after suffering a fatal seizure that fractured his spine and caused two bleeds to his brain.
Father-of-three Paul Camfield, 62, was home alone with his 11-year-old son, Josh, when he fell out of bed convulsing.
After calling 999 three times – and it reportedly taking almost one hour for an ambulance to arrive – accounts manager Mr Camfield, from Buckinghamshire, was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital where doctors found he had fractured his spine and sustained a bleed to his brain.
It was there Mr Camfield’s two elder sons, Toby and Ali Camfield, say they were told their father would make a full recovery from his injuries – and to ‘not worry’.
However, only one week later, Mr Camfield suffered a second bleed to the brain after his headaches persisted, and was brought to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he underwent emergency surgery.
Despite the efforts of medical staff to save Mr Camfield, his family were told following the surgery the damage to his brain was ‘too severe’ – and he could not be revived.
Only three days later, Toby made the difficult decision to turn his father’s life support machine off.
Tragically, Josh has now been left orphaned as his mother and Mr Camfield’s ex-partner, Elaine Crone, also passed away at the beginning of this year from secondary cancer.
Paul Camfield (pictured) died only weeks after being told his bad headaches were caused by an ear infection
Mr Camfield (far right) leaves behind sons Josh, Ali and Toby (pictured)
Josh (pictured) has tragically been left orphaned following the death of his father and his mother, Elaine, who passed away at the beginning of this year from cancer
Toby, 35, and Ali, 33, have since set up a GoFundMe campaign in order to support their half-brother through the deaths of both his parents, with Ali beginning the process of fostering Josh into his care.
The brothers spoke to the Daily Mail about how their father’s seemingly innocent headaches turned into the biggest heartache of their lives – but how they are doing everything in their power to give their little brother the support he desperately needs.
Toby, who is a blade technician, said: ‘My father fell over on a slip and slide a few months ago and he hit his head. He thought nothing of it at the time.
‘Then he began complaining of headaches. So, he went to the doctors and they said, “it’s just an ear infection.” He took antibiotics for this, but was still having the bad headaches.
‘Then, a few weeks later on June 20, all of a sudden Josh found him on the floor – he had fallen out of the bed and had a seizure. He fell and hit his back.’
After Josh bravely alerted his brothers – who live more than two hours away – of their father’s seizure, Ali immediately called the South Central Ambulance Service.
However, he claimed it took three attempts at calling to successfully ensure an ambulance reached his father’s home, meaning Josh and Mr Camfield waited almost one hour for medical intervention.
Ali, who is an electrician, said: ‘Josh had called me saying “something has happened to dad.” It was only a young boy and dad – who had no speech after the seizure – in their house, so I arranged for an ambulance to be sent.
Josh discovered his father had suffered a seizure bravely alerted his brothers, who then called for help
Accounts manager Mr Camfield suffered a fractured spine in two places, then two bleeds to the brain
‘It took me three attempts to call them, and finally, almost one hour later, an ambulance showed up.’
Mr Camfield was then brought to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire where doctors discovered he had broken his spine in two places and suffered a bleed to his brain.
Toby explained at this stage, his father was conscious – and reassured by doctors he would make a full recovery.
He said: ‘I saw my dad in hospital that week, and the staff said the bleed will go away and that it is all fine, the bleed will go away on its own.
‘He was conscious, walking about and talking to the other patients. But he wasn’t making any sense and continued to have the headaches in hospital, and they said it was normal.
‘He was in Stoke Hospital for around a week, and was about to be discharged – but suddenly had another re-bleed out of nowhere. He had to be rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.’
Mr Camfield, who was at this stage unresponsive, was blue-lighted to the hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery – which he survived.
However, when doctors attempted to revive him after the procedure, Mr Camfield failed to stir.
Toby and Ali have started a fundraising campaign to support their younger brother in the wake of his parents’ deaths
Toby said: ‘When he had the re-bleed, he did not wake up at all. They took him off sedation after the surgery to see if he would come back, but there was no sign of him at all.
‘We were later told that essentially, he was brain dead and would not be the same person again.’
The decision to take Mr Camfield off life support fell to Toby. Mr Camfield passed away on July 1.
Toby said: ‘Dad lasted around five minutes and then peacefully passed away.
‘But my dad would never have wanted to be in the situation where he was kept alive but brain dead.
‘He would never have been himself again. There was clear evidence of damage to his brain stem, so turning the life support off was not a hard decision, it was something that was necessary.’
A spokesperson from Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, who oversee Stoke Mandeville Hospital, said they are ‘saddened’ to hear of Mr Camfield’s death, and send their ‘sincere condolences’ to his family.
‘As a matter of patient confidentiality, it would not be appropriate for us to comment publicly on the care or treatment of an individual patient,’ the Trust said.
Mr Camfield pictured with Toby and Ali as children
‘We appreciate that this is a very distressing time for Mr Camfield’s family.
‘If they would like to discuss any aspect of the care he received at Stoke Mandeville, we would encourage them to contact the Trust directly and we would be happy to speak with them and address any questions or concerns they may have.’
Now, in the midst of their father’s tragic death, Toby and Ali have established a GoFundMe fundraising campaign with the aim of supporting Josh through losing both of his parents in such a short space of time.
Only three months ago, Josh’s mother, 48-year-old Ms Crone, passed away from a cancer Toby said had ‘spread everywhere, in the end’.
Josh’s life will now change in every way, Toby and Ali said.
Explaining the purpose of the fundraiser, Ali said: ‘I am currently starting the process of fostering Josh. He’ll live with me and he’ll have to enroll at a new school in Worcester.
‘He is essentially starting a new life without either of his parents, so the GoFundMe has been set up for Josh, so he can have a better life as things will be tough now.
‘Setting something up like this will mean he has one less worry, as I imagine he will struggle emotionally after losing his mother and father.’
Mr Camfield pictured with Josh’s mother, Elaine, who tragically also died this year from secondary cancer
‘He is doing OK – but I think inside he is really struggling. I think anyone would, especially at his age.’
Toby added: ‘When Elaine passed, my dad and her were separated. However, this whole situation is just devastating for Josh.
‘Ali and I are just so constantly worried about Josh and it’s heartbreaking for both of us to see. Our grief comes in waves – but we haven’t properly grieved ourselves yet as we are so worried about Josh.’
A spokesperson from Mr Camfield’s GP practice said: ‘Our deepest sympathies are with the family. While we are unable to comment on specific care due to patient confidentiality, we offer our deepest condolences.’
A spokesperson for South Central Ambulances Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) confirmed three 999 calls were made from Mr Camfield’s address on June 20, where he waited a total of 42 minutes for emergency services.
They said: ‘The trust would like to extend its sincere condolences to Mr Camfield’s family following his death on 1 July.
‘Having reviewed our records, we can confirm that three 999 calls were made on the morning of 20 June from an address in High Wycombe where Mr Camfield was. All three calls were answered and triaged by West Midlands Ambulance Service before being transferred to South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS).
The first two calls transferred to SCAS at 05:45 and 06:09 had been triaged as a category 3 call – these calls have a target response time of within two hours.
‘The third call transferred to SCAS at 06:32 had been triaged as a category 2 call – these calls have a target time of being responded to within 40 minutes in 9 cases out of 10.
‘Our ambulance crew arrived at the address Mr Camfield was at in 42 minutes.’
