Luke Abrahams: parents demand answers after amateur footballer, 20, dies suddenly after ‘sore throat’

The greiving parents of a 20-year-old amateur footballer are demanding answers following the sudden death of their son.

Luke Abrahams died on the operating table in hospital after first complaining about a sore throat a week before. Dad Richard Abrahams and mum Julie Needham said: “We just can’t believe he’s not here anymore. We keep thinking he’s out with his mates and he’s going to be home any minute.”

His last words to his parents were “Dad, I’ll be okay, you take care of Jake and mum”, and mum Julie said: “That’s when I felt he knew he was going to die.”

A post-mortem exam has revealed Luke died of natural causes including septicaemia, Lemierre syndrome (a form of bacterial infection), and necrotising fasciitis (a type of flesh-eating disease). Despite receiving the cause of death, the parents told NationalWorld’s sister title the Northampton Chronicle there are still “a lot of unanswered questions”, particularly with the way Luke’s treatment was handled by healthcare providers.

Luke thought he ‘had tonsillitis’ at first

Luke first became ill on Sunday, 15 January, telling his mum he thought he had tonsillitis because his throat had flared up. After initially contacting his GP the next day he was prescribed antibiotics, but his mum struggled to find any due to a nationwide shortage.

The 20-year-old called 111 on Tuesday, 17 January, and was told to go to Northampton General Hospital A&E. He texted his mum saying he was going to be put on an intravenous drip, but left two hours later without that happening, leaving Julie confused.

His pain became worse and worse

Luke complained about cramp in his leg that was causing him pain all throughout the day and night on Wednesday, 18 January, and the family rang 111 again. By Friday, 20 January, his pain was getting “worse and worse” with mum Julia recalling him saying: “I can’t take this pain anymore, it really hurts.”

She called 999, who said Luke “wasn’t critical” and that she should contact Penvale Park to organise transport to A&E for him. Julie added: “I passed this message on to Penvale Medical Centre and, two hours later, they said they have never heard of anything like that. I was getting angry now because he really wasn’t well and I couldn’t get him to the hospital. Nobody had taken responsibility.” She rang 999 back and an ambulance was sent to their home. “Luke was really worried at this point,” Julia explained.

‘Alarm bells should have rung for me then’

An ambulance crew came over and did tests that found Luke’s heart rate and blood pressure were high, but the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) paramedics said that it was due to him fighting the infection in his throat.

Richard said: “Alarm bells should have rang for me then, ‘fighting a bacterial infection’. They also did a sugar level test and said it was high and asked if Luke had diabetes, which he didn’t.

“All they said was that on Monday he needs to go to the GP for a diabetes check. If your blood sugar level is high, they should have taken him to the hospital straight away. It should never be that high. The ambulance crew said ‘our job is to make sure he can walk to the toilet’ and that was it.”

Luke is taken into hospital

The family called 111 again on Sunday, 22 January, after Luke told his parents “I just can’t take this anymore” and an ambulance crew was dispatched again.

Julie said: “They took him into hospital for further checks and that was it, we got a call at 1am from Luke saying can you come down they want to see you, and that’s when we were told he has a 50/50 chance of living, that he’s really poorly, he’s got this bacterial eating infection and it’s a life-threatening situation.

“We were shocked but thought to ourselves, ‘they can save him’, we put our trust in them. They said this is a life-threating operation, we might have to amputate his leg. They amputated his leg but said he was too far gone.

"He said, 'Dad, I'll be okay, you take care of Jake and mum'. That's when I felt he knew he was going to die. I get the impression they [doctors] said a lot more to him than to us. Luke was trying to protect us because that's Luke. We watched 20 people working on him in theatre and he didn’t pull through.”

Luke’s parents ‘want answers’

Richard and Julie said they are worried that this could happen to “any child”. The parents said: “He was 20 years old. We want answers. There are a lot of unanswered questions. It’s a catalogue of errors. I’m not taking any of that, ‘we’ll learn from our mistakes’, there’s too much of that going on, someone should have taken him in for a proper test. We’re grieving parents. I don’t want to see any more grieving parents.”

Paying tribute to their son, Ricard and Julie said: “We’re a close family. Luke was a family man. It was always the four of us. We did everything together. He was such a popular boy. He used to say to me, ‘everybody knows me’. He’s a caring boy, always has been. Always been a character. Always liked to be the centre of attention. It will never ever be the same.”

How have the NHS responded?

Integrated Care Northamptonshire responded on behalf of all of the healthcare providers which were involved with Luke in the week of his death. A spokesperson said: “On behalf of the NHS in Northamptonshire, we wish to express our sincere condolences to the family and our thoughts are with them at this very difficult time.

“All providers are reviewing the care and treatment provided in this case and until such time as their reviews are completed, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”