Julie Connell, 58, died of sepsis after a number of hospital blunders (Image: SWNS)

       A gran died in agony after a bungled operation and hospital blunders meant that her bowel was left leaking into her body for seven years.

       Julie Connell, 58, suffered a damaged bowel during surgery to remove a cancerous kidney in 2013.

       Following the operation at Hereford County Hospital, Julie suffered repeated infections and abscesses as a result of the errors - and died from sepsis in 2020.

       Now her husband is trying to raise awareness of sepsis in her memory to prevent others going through the same trauma.

       David, a training advisor, said: “Julie was an extrovert.

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       The gran died in agony after the hospital missed opportunities caring for her (Image: SWNS)

       “She was very attractive, tall and commanded any room she walked into. She was immensely vibrant and the life and soul of our family.

       “She had many friends and there were always people at our house. However, all that changed when she started being unwell.”

       But, David said, doctors failed to get to the root cause of his wife’s issues.

       He said: “From 2013 onwards our lives revolved around Julie’s health. It felt like she was regularly complaining of pain and was in and out of hospital.

       “She would be diagnosed with sepsis and be given antibiotics but it didn’t really feel like the doctors were getting to the root of her condition and treating the cause.

       “Instead Julie had to put up with drainage bags being attached to her for months on end.

       He added: “It was awful seeing everything Julie had to go through in her final years.

       “She went from being a happy, outgoing and independent person to someone who lived in pain and was reliant on others.

       “Julie was my best friend and life without her will never the be the same for any of us.”

       Despite having drainage bags fitted, fluid continued to leak into the chef's body.

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       Hereford County Hospital where Julie was treated (Image: SWNS)

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       In 2017 she underwent further surgery to try and repair her bowel but the damaged section wasn’t removed as it should have been.

       Julie was referred to a specialist at another hospital and during surgery in June 2019, two perforations were identified.

       The 58-year-old's condition continued to deteriorate and she died in August 2020 from acute respiratory distress caused by abdominal sepsis.

       Before her death she had instructed medical negligence lawyers Irwin Mitchell to investigate her care under Wye Valley NHS Trust.

       The Trust, which runs Hereford County Hospital, admitted “missed opportunities” to remove part of Julie’s damaged bowel in 2013 and 2017.

       Solicitor Lucy Macklin, who is representing Julie's family, said: “The independent evidence we obtained showed that if further investigations had been carried out when Julie started complaining of pain following her initial surgery, her leaking bowel would have been identified, Julie would have received appropriate treatment and she would have made a full recovery from those complications.”

       The family are now pursuing compensation from the Trust.

       Express.co.uk has approached Wye Valley NHS trust for a comment.

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