A dad-of-one died just 24 hours after a bungling doctor refused to send him to A&E – telling him he had tonsillitis.
Michael Reynolds, 29, was told to rest after he initially went to his GP complaining of a sore and swollen throat.
He was sent home with a steroid nasal spray but when his symptoms got worse and was unable to swallow he was seen by a different doctor the next day.
Despite being questioned about whether he needed to attend A&E, the doctor brushed off his concerns and diagnosed him with tonsillitis and prescribed him oral antibiotics.
After collecting his prescription from the pharmacy, Michael returned home with his wife Charlotte where he collapsed.
The HGV driver, who had just become a dad to his son Jacob months earlier, was rushed to hospital but he died the next morning.
A post-mortem revealed he had suffered a cardiac arrest triggered by a lack of oxygen due to his throat closing.
An inquest into his death in December 2023 found there had been a “missed opportunity” to send him to A&E for urgent treatment.
His devastated family have now instructed medical negligence solicitors Irwin Mitchell to investigate his care.
Michael’s grieving widow Charlotte, 31, said: “Watching Jacob grow up without his daddy by his side is devastating and we miss Michael every single day.
“Michael meant everything to us and losing him has left a huge hole in our lives that will never go away. We’d do anything to bring him back.
“The inquest and reliving everything again has been particularly upsetting, but at least I now have some answers as to why Michael’s no longer with us and I will be able to explain this to Jacob when he is old enough to understand.
“All I can hope for now is that by sharing our story, it can lead to improvements in care for others and more awareness around the signs of epiglottitis and the need for emergency treatment, as it’s something I’d never even heard of before.
“I wouldn’t want anyone going through what we have.”