The Guardian - Maeve Boothby-O'Neill Inquest
July 22, 2024
** Trigger warning - upsetting content **
From the article:
A woman with ME wrote to her GP pleading for help to “get enough food to live” and expressing despair at not getting the care she felt she needed when she was admitted to hospital, an inquest heard.
Maeve Boothby O’Neill, who had severe ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) for several years, was admitted three times to the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital but felt doctors there did not take her illness seriously.
Four months before she died, aged 27, Boothby O’Neill wrote to her GP: “I know you’re doing your best for me but I really need help with feeding. I don’t understand why the hospital didn’t do anything to help me when I went in.
“I am hungry. I want to eat. I have been unable to sit up or chew since March [three months before]. The only person helping me eat is my mum. I can’t get enough calories from a syringe. Please help me get enough food to live.”
At the start of her inquest in Exeter, it was revealed that Boothby O’Neill’s GP, Dr Lucy Shenton, who had worked hard to get her help, would not appear to give evidence because she had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder over the case.
The coroner, Deborah Archer, said: “She felt stress and Maeve’s tragic death had taken a very significant toll on her.”
You can read the full Guardian article, here.
