The devastated father of a ‘fit and healthy’ young mum who died suddenly while 29 weeks pregnant said doctors told him she would be alive today if she ‘had taken the vaccine’.
David Exley, 57, said his daughter Sadie, 24, had a ‘hunky-dory’ pregnancy and had no complications until she suddenly started suffering from migraines and chest pain.
But following tests at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield in October this year, the mum-of-two was diagnosed with a blood clot in her lung.
Her condition deteriorated after she caught Covid in late November, and a week later she was rushed to St James Hospital in Leeds after becoming paralysed on one side.
The mum-of-two was diagnosed with a blood clot in her lung. Her condition deteriorated after she caught Covid in late November
She was then transferred to Leeds General Infirmary and rushed to the intensive care unit where she tragically died on December 3 after suffering from a brain haemorrhage.
Doctors were able to save tiny Elliot who was delivered by caesarean section at 29 weeks weighing just 2.1lbs.
Heartbroken David, from Birstall, said: ‘I got the news over the phone, it was just sheer panic. I drove straight to the hospital.
‘I don’t know how to describe how I felt. My head was a shed.
‘I didn’t eat for days, I was just waiting to know if she was going to be better.
‘They tried to save her but it was apparent that we had lost Sadie.
‘They saved baby Elliot but they couldn’t save our Sadie.’
David said Sadie started to complain of chest pains and migraines in October, and when she was diagnosed with a blood clot ‘alarm bells started ringing’.
But he was left shocked when doctors sent her home and told her to inject herself with blood thinners.
At the time Sadie was living with her mum Jill Allen, 48, who was taking care of her along with David as she was in constant pain.
Doctors were able to save tiny Elliot who was delivered by caesarean section at 29 weeks weighing just 2.1lbs
On November 24, Sadie caught Covid but had no symptoms and doctors reassured the family that she was ‘alright’.
David said: ‘She caught Covid while healthy, and Covid does a lot of things. It works on your weaknesses within your body.
‘What Covid did is it stimulated the red blood cells to produce little clots.
‘Over time they got bigger and bigger and bigger.
‘She was getting symptoms for a month and then a blood clot in her brain caused a bleed by then it was too late.’
Sadie tragically died on December 3 despite heroic efforts from medics, and David and Jill were allowed to say their final goodbyes to Sadie
‘…And when everything happened, we spoke to the consultant.
‘I asked him honestly if she had the jab when she could have had it, and he said he couldn’t say 100 percent but he thought she’d still be here.’
In early December Sadie was due for a scan with her midwife as they thought the baby was too small and she decided to go home so she could drive to the hospital in the morning.
But in the early hours of December 2, Sadie woke up numb on one side and fell before being left paralysed on the floor until around 8am when an ambulance arrived.
As she had Covid, David was not allowed to see her but he was told by Jill that she was covered in sick.
David added: ‘I wasn’t allowed in A&E even if we had a bubble. They allowed Sadie’s mum in but they tried to kick her out.
‘Sadie was covered in sick, she was on her own. She was so frightened and really ill.
‘The staff said because she was Covid positive, Jill had to leave and that was last time she saw her alive.’
Sadie tragically died on December 3 despite heroic efforts from medics, and David and Jill were allowed to say their final goodbyes to Sadie.
The electrician said: ‘We were allowed to go in and say goodbye and she was in her own little room. They had done an operation on her head, her head was completely shaved.
‘Her injuries were not nice, but at least we got to say goodbye to her.
‘We never expected anything like this in a million years. She was fit and healthy.’
Doctors told David that even if Sadie had regained consciousness, she would likely never be herself again due to the damage to her brain.
He said he felt ‘sadness’ but also ‘relief’ as he didn’t want her to live like that for the rest of her life.
David added: ‘The main thing was they were trying to save Elliot.’
Thankfully tiny Elliot has recovered well and is a ‘fighter just like his mum’ according to David.
Single-mum Sadie is survived by her tiny tot Elliot and her two-year-old Harper, and David said he will make sure the pair ‘know everything about her’.
He said: ‘Harper keeps asking us to ring mum so she hasn’t grasped what happened, and probably never will and Elliot will never know her.
‘But we will make sure he hears stories about her. Apart from actually meeting her, they’ll know everything about her.’
Paying tribute to Sadie, David said she was a ‘fantastic mum and dancer’ who was not just his daughter but his best friend.
He said: ‘She was a really fun girl, she always had a laugh. We were father and daughter, but we were good mates.
‘She was always daft as a brush. She was so much fun. And she was a fantastic mum.
‘She was independent, and she took everything in her stride.
‘She danced from when she was three and danced her whole life. She was a fantastic dancer.
‘She studied dance in college and absolutely loved it, and she danced at Euro Disney in Paris when it first opened. It was a highlight of her career.’
Sadie’s funeral is set to take place on January 7.
Her work colleagues at B&M in Batley closed the store when they learned of her passing, and have since set up a fundraiser to help the family.
