Amelia Ridout, 6, died from ‘catastrophic’ internal bleeding after routine procedure went wrong

A six -year -old girl died of “catastrophic internal bleeding” after a routine bone marrow biopsy turned.

Now his father welcomes new security measures announced on his behalf to save others the same fate.

Amelia Ridout had received a diagnosis of suspected pancytopenia, a condition characterized by a reduction of the three main types of blood cells.

She suffered the biopsy of the bone marrow under general anesthesia on June 16, 2022 at the Cambridge Addenbrooke Hospital.

According to the prevention of future deaths meeting on the case, the doctor making the biopsy observed a blood push by removing the needle. However, a consultant would have been assured that there was no sign of justification.

Shortly after, Amelia’s pulse was lost and doctors tried to save her life.

It has been assumed that it suffered from internal bleeding following the procedure and immediate surgery was necessary, but she died on the operating table.

The coroner investigating the death of Amelia, Elizabeth Gray, said that the girl died after the biopsy needle accidentally pierced the blood vessels causing “massive and catastrophic bleeding”.

She said that there should be national directives and standard operational procedure for this type of biopsy.

Now, the British Society for Hematology (BSH) has confirmed that it would develop a universal method that brings practices around bone marrow biopsies in accordance with today’s standards. It will be called Millie’s method in tribute to Amelia.

He will also make recommendations for the training of staff carrying out the procedure and will draw up an assessment of skills.

BSH also said that it would also explore the possibility of developing a register of complications to shed light on future directives.

Amelia’s father Matt Ridout said: “We will never recover Amelia – but now his name will represent change.

“Millie’s method will be a permanent reminder of each clinician, each trust and each patient that security should never be supposed – it must be guaranteed.

“No parent should never wonder if his child’s life could have been saved by a better process.

“I am grateful to the British Society for her hematology for having taken this seriously and having honored my daughter from real stages to change.”

The hospital was approached to comment.