A MOTHER-of-three who nearly died from a brain haemorrhage was sent an ambulance with no working equipment – then misdiagnosed by hospital staff, her husband says.

Karen Vaile, 35, collapsed at home on Woodland Drive, Broadway, after complaining of a terrible headache.

An ambulance was called but when it arrived her family was told they would have to wait for another because the medical equipment was not working. It arrived ten minutes later and Karen was taken to A&E at Barnsley Hospital.

Husband Terry, 35, told doctors she had suffered bad headaches for weeks and she had recently had a course of antibiotics for a chest infection. She was given a chest x-ray, but only taken for a brain scan following a major seizure that night. “All she could murmur was ‘my head, my head’. I told them she wasn’t right but they kept saying it was the chest infection that had made her delirious.

She later had a CT scan which revealed she had a bleed on the brain.

Karen was taken to Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield the next day and underwent a six-hour operation to stop the bleed. She was in intensive care for seven weeks.

Terry said: “I’m happy we still have her but I’m angry a brain haemorrhage was never considered until it nearly killed her. I don’t think she’ll ever be the same again.”

A hospital spokesman confirmed an investigation was underway and no comment could be made.

Full story in this week's Chronicle.