Man up: Adelaide dad told his sickness was made up shortly before dying at home

“We call an ambulance for help, we don't call an ambulance to get abused or to get humiliated,” Hemant’s wife told the court. 

The dad-=of-two was sent to hospital on several occasions, but was told by medical staff to 'man up'.

An inquest into the death of an Adelaide father has found his health issues were dismissed by medical professionals, and likely would not have died if staff had paid closer attention to his complaints.

In early April 2020, dad-of-two Hemant Chadra was starting to feel sick, an inquest has heard.  

The 38-year-old disability worker complained of stomach cramps and pain, developed a fever and couldn’t stop coughing. 

It was when he started feeling dizzy, vomiting and losing control of his breathing that he was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Emergency Department. 

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The dad-=of-two was sent to hospital on several occasions, but was told by medical staff to 'man up'.

Paramedics told dying dad he was being ‘naughty’

After arriving at the hospital, he underwent an X-ray, where doctors revealed he had pneumonia; he was given antibiotics and told to go home and recover. 

Three days later he visited the GP at Hollywood Plaza but was soon piled into the back of an ambulance and rushed to the Lyell McEwin Hospital.

But before he was taken for treatment, Hemant requested a wheelchair, to which one of the paramedics reportedly responded: “How did he get there, did he crawl?”  

When he arrived at the hospital, his clinical summary documentation labelled him with “acopia”, a widely considered offensive term for a “frail elderly person” who is incapable of coping with everyday tasks. 

His constant complaints were being ignored or pushed aside, the court heard, with doctors issuing another X-ray but soon discharging him after explaining his condition was improving. 

Only a few days later, another ambulance was called, with the same medical officers taking him to the emergency room once again.

According to Adelaide Advertiser, neighbours reported Hemant’s leg as dangling down as if “the strings of a puppet had been let loose.”  

This wasn’t the case for the paramedics, however. “The ambulance officers accused her husband of creating drama and ‘being naughty,’” said counsel assisting the coroner Emma Roper.

“Then [the paramedic] turned to [Hemant] and said, 'Naughty naughty, you are naughty,” his wife told the court. 

“Then he did mention to me, 'If you want we will take him to the hospital so that he can have a good night's sleep because he's troubling you too much.” 

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“We miss him a lot, every moment of every day”

Medical staff told the Adelaide father he had the “man flu”, was prescribed anti-anxiety medication and sent on his way. 

According to his wife, Hemant was upset when he came home from the hospital and claimed staff told him he was “making this all up” and he “should man up.” 

Felt let down by the constant aims at his honesty, Hemant refused to let his wife call for medical attention anymore, lest he feel humiliated once more. 

“We call ambulance for help, we don't call ambulance to get abused or to get humiliated,” his wife told the court.

In the early hours of April 22, Hemant’s wife woke up to find her husband stone cold and not breathing and immediately called for help. 

But there was nothing paramedics could do to save the father, pronouncing him dead at 5:04 that same morning. 

According to the coroner, his cause of death was acute-on-chronic pneumonia, which left untreated, can cause respiratory failure, sepsis and lung abscesses.  

The court heard that if he had sought medical treatment the night before his death, his condition may have been detected; medical intervention could have saved his life. 

 Now his wife is left to care for their two children, aged seven and 14, sharing how her husband’s death affected the family. 

“We miss him a lot, every moment of every day,” she said. “I just miss him all the time.”

Originally published as Man up: Adelaide dad told his sickness was made up shortly before dying at home