The Sunday Times of the 1st June had a very interesting article which revived very sad memories for me
Entitled “ Saved in the blink of an eye “ it told the story of Richard Marsh who had suffered a stroke . Doctors thought that his brain was dead and wanted to convince his family to turn off his life support , which they refused to do and asked for a neurologist to examine Richard again and give a second opinion , which he did ... and they found out that Richard had a condition called locked-in-syndrome , which makes the patient go into a vegetative state , which looks like a coma but that it can be cured . After therapy and treatment Richard recuperated 95% of his pre-stroke capacity !
I wish I could have had such a second opinion when my poor darling Ian Cullerne Bown had a stroke on the 23rd September 1999 after I had taken him to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital after he did not feel well early morning, and , knowing the heart problems he had had in the past I had called an ambulance and they had taken him to the hospital . There he was told that he had no heart problem and that a doctor would
come to see him, which only happened quite a while later because of emergencies . When the doctor finally looked after him Ian did not speak properly, which I told the doctor who said that he was probably having a stroke ... but she had to make a blood test to find out what kind of a stroke it was ! I could not believe that being in emergencies , nobody had thought of making a blood test and that the doctor looked so quiet telling me that Ian was probably having a stroke !!!!
Well she had no time to come back with the results because Ian had massive stroke and several doctors operated on him for I cannot remember how long after which they put him to sleep because the stroke had been absolutely dramatic as one of the doctors told me when it was over. They put him in intensive care where I was allowed to stay and sleep for the next few days. We were all hoping that Ian would wake up but he did not.
On the Saturday the doctor told me that he would do a brain scan the next day and that if the brain was too destroyed they would unplug everything , which meant Ian’s death. I thought I would go mad. How could they do that and not wait a few more days and a chance to wake up ? Ian was strong and I was sure he would wake up . I tried to find a doctor to give a second opinion, but being a Saturday it was very difficult to find a doctor and when I found one he wanted so much money, which I did not have and I had to give up. I spent one of the most awful nights of my life trying to think of a way to prevent them from doing what they wanted to do but the next day, after the scan was done, the doctor told me that the brain was too destroyed and that Ian would be a vegetable if he survived and that it was better for him and for me to let him go ... and it was also costing too much to the NHS . In addition an old girl friend of his had called saying that she was his next-of-kin and authorized for everything to be unplugged without even being there!
Ian had asked my then husband Bodo to divorce me and he wanted to buy 50% of the shares of my magazine which he wanted to develop . We were supposed to see a lawyer who was always travelling . We had a meeting with him the week after to sign all our papers ... but the meeting never took place . Ian was no longer there. When the doctor told me that he was going to unplug everything within the next hours, I begged him to wait one more day but he refused and a few hours later Ian was dead , with me helpless and miserable next to him . I could not believe that the man I loved was no longer part of this world !! I was desperate and it took me a long time to get over it and almost 15 years later I still have not forgotten. I hate the doctor who took so long to take care of him and the doctor who listened to the liar who said she was his next of kin and decided with her to unplug everything. I never managed to deal properly with the ones who were his next of kin’s by the law, Ian having left no will. I was badly advised by a dishonest lawyer and let down by everyone after he had gone . No more magazine meant no more articles or invitations which a lot of people were hoping to get from me and I was no longer interesting ...
The worse was the way his next of kin’s dilapidated Ian’s estate paying people and things they should not have paid ... without giving a penny to the one who would have been the correct next of kin , had we signed the papers before his death !!! And they never tried to find out who stole Ian’s money from his bank account in Luxembourg, imitating his handwriting and his signature six months after his death !!!!
Yes I wish that like Richard Marsh , Ian would have had a chance to have a second opinion and things would have gone differently.
I had to give up a lot of things when he died and I shall never get them back but one thing is sure :I shall find out who stole his money in Luxembourg . It is a fraud and frauds can be pursued for 20 years , which means that I have a few more years to deal with the matter ... And beware the one who did it! He or she will not take it to Paradise as we say in French !!!