Former Socceroo Steve Herczeg ‘died from oxygen error’ at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, inquest hears
AN Adelaide grandfather dubbed SA’s “forgotten Socceroo” died in hospital after his bladder burst and lungs collapsed because he was wrongly connected to oxygen, an inquest has heard.
A FORMER Socceroo suffered an agonising death in an Adelaide hospital after a botched medical procedure ruptured his bladder and collapsed his lungs, an inquest has heard.
South Australia’s first World Cup soccer qualifying player, Stephen Herczeg, 72, died last month, hours after he was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville.
In a family statement to The Advertiser on Monday night, his devastated sons, Steve, 51, Christopher, 36, and Joshua, 34, described the grandfather of three as a “great man and a loving person”.
They added: “At the moment our whole family is grieving. All we really want are answers and for the truth to come out.”
Earlier this year, Mr Herczeg told The Advertiserof his pride at representing Australia, in the nation’s second ever FIFA World Cup qualifier in 1966.
The Coroner’s Court was told on Monday that Mr Herczeg, a Hungarian-born widower known as “Steve” died as a result of his catheter bag mistakenly connected to oxygen, which pumped 15L of air a minute into him.
This, his inquest heard, “ruptured” his bladder, causing air to escape into his blood, tissue and vital organs. The internal pressure caused his lungs to collapse and his heart to become displaced.
Despite having “severe” underlying medical problems, including lung cancer from 45 years of smoking, the inquest heard the “painful” oxygen mistake would have caused even a “healthy” person to die.
In a further blunder, Mr Herczeg — whose wife Kristine, 70, drowned almost exactly 12 months earlier — was connected to oxygen despite emergency department doctors expressly asking against this, the court heard.
Staff trying to save his life could not access any medical records — showing his relevant resuscitation status — because the public health system’s new electronic records system, EPAS, failed to load, the inquest heard.
State Coroner Mark Johns was told a number of medical entries were made after his death and the catheter bag was found in Mr Herczeg’s ensuite bathroom.
It was not fingerprinted and later destroyed along with relevant tubes, in what Mr Johns described as “more than unfortunate”. It is hoped inquest witnesses may shed light on what occurred.
Opening the urgent inquest yesterday, counsel assisting the Coroner, Naomi Kereru, said the death occurred on September 19, almost 12 hours after Mr Herczeg was rushed to hospital by ambulance after falling at his North Haven home. He was also taking antibiotics for a urinary tract infection.
He arrived at the QEH’s ED an hour later feeling dizzy, “pleasantly confused”, hallucinating and asking for lollies. He was seen by ED staff, who stabilised him.
After moving to the Respiratory Ward at 3pm, he suddenly screamed out in pain, yelling he was “going to die” and pleading for a doctor.
Ms Kereru said the oxygen supply was “incorrectly connected, resulting in his bladder inflating with oxygen, then bursting, and his lungs collapsing from the pressure of the oxygen”.
It remains unclear who made the fateful decision or when it occurred. A post mortem examination found death was from respiratory failure.
The inquest continues.