Former Socceroo Stephen Herczeg ‘may have caused own death’, police investigation suggested, rather than QEH blunder
THE family of a former Socceroo who died in agony are furious that Premier Jay Weatherill has referred to police speculation suggesting he caused his own death.
- Son of Socceroo great lashes out after nurse’s ‘no pain’ evidence
- Ex-Socceroo died after horrendous error at QEH, inquest told
THE family of a former Socceroo who died in agony are furious that Premier Jay Weatherill has referred to police speculation suggesting he caused his own death.
Stephen Herczeg died in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital when an oxygen tube was mistakenly connected to the catheter to his bladder.
In an unusual move to comment on a sitting coronial inquest, Mr Weatherill yesterday said it was “shameful” that speculation was “pointing the finger’’ at nurses before the findings were handed down.
Mr Weatherill, who was answering questions about failings in the health system, said: “We had a police report, which is speculating that the death (of Mr Herczeg) was caused by the actions of the patient.
“Now we don’t know the truth or otherwise of that, but that’s certainly what emerged after the police investigation.”
Despite referring to speculation Mr Herczeg caused his own death, Mr Weatherill went on to say: “I think that we need to first await and see what the findings are before people jump to conclusions.”
Mr Herczeg’s son Joshua, a 34-year-old boilermaker of North Haven who quit his job to care for his father in his final year, reacted with disbelief.
Flanked by brother Christopher, 36, he said his father would not have had the physical strength to accidentally connect oxygen tubes to his catheter, as he was “frail”.
“He would not touch it himself,” Joshua said. “There is no way he would have done that.
“He trusted everyone around him with his life. He would not have done that to himself, he did not ever touch his own catheter. He had the will to live.
“Someone has to be held accountable for it and someone has to lose their licence.
“I think he (Mr Weatherill) has no right to talk about my father, he’s trying to win votes and back the QEH.’’
Mr Herczeg, South Australia’s first World Cup qualifying player, died last month aged 72 in the QEH from respiratory failure caused by a ruptured bladder and collapsed lungs.
The inquest has heard how Mr Herczeg, a Hungarian-born widower known as “Steve”, died after his catheter bag was mistakenly connected to oxygen tubes, which pumped 15L of air a minute.
State Coroner Mark Johns has heard this may have been caused by a botched medical procedure. It is one of several blunders uncovered after the September 19 incident, which occurred almost exactly 12 months after Mr Herczeg’s wife Kristine, 70, died.
Mr Johns is conducting an urgent inquest into the circumstances, including why oxygen tubes were connected to Mr Herczeg and who made that fateful decision.
The hospital’s contentious new electronic records system, EPAS, has also come under scrutiny, while the police investigation has been criticised for not seizing the catheter.
A police statement tendered to the court, based on an interview with a QEH doctor, suggests that “in his confusion, (Mr Herczeg) may have inadvertently placed the oxygen tube into the catheter tube, potentially resulting in the bladder bursting”.
Yesterday, QEH emergency department registrar Sean Jolly told the Coroners Court that Mr Herczeg was suffering from “delirium”.
The inquest has heard from three nurses who cared for Mr Herczeg in the ED after he arrived by ambulance following a fall. Registered nurse Stacy Woodward said Mr Herczeg’s catheter and oxygen supply were correctly connected.
The inquest continues.
