Rock musician with a mohican was left to die from swine flu after 'medics assumed he was a junkie'



Mr Williamson sought help from the NHS FOUR times after suffering with severe flu symptoms

Judged on looks: Rock musician Peter Williamson (pictured) was denied treatment four times, according to his family

A musician with a punk haircut died from swine flu after medics assumed he was a drug addict and ignored his pleas for help, his distraught mother claims.

Peter Williamson, who sported a mohican and facial piercings, was turned away from a hospital and health centre, as well as by an ambulance crew.

One nurse sent him home saying: 'Do you realise we do have sick people in this hospital?'

An ambulanceman called to his home asked his mother if Peter had taken drugs - then said he didn't need to go to hospital.



Peter's condition deteriorated and he was left so weak that he had to use a mobility scooter to go food shopping with his mother.

He was found dead by his mother at his flat in Walkden, Greater Manchester - only a week after his request plea for help.



Tests confirmed he had bronchopneumonia and the swine flu Influenza A virus H1N1.



An inquest coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes although a pathologist said the death could have been avoided if Peter had early treatment.



Today as lawyers for the family prepared to sue health bosses for negligence, Peter's mother Susan, 51, said: 'We did everything possible to get Peter help, but we think because of the way he looked they just wouldn't listen to us.



'Presumably because he had a punk hairstyle and facial piercings they dismissed him as a junkie. But nothing could be further from the truth. My Peter never touched drugs and lived a healthy lifestyle.



'He loved punk music, it was his life but having a spikey haircut doesn't make you a drug abuser. I will always hold the doctors and nurses responsible for Peter's death.



'It's just the disgusting way they treated my son. I think the attitude of the hospital staff is appalling, they just looked at Peter and just judged him for the way he looked.'



The tragedy occurred in November 2009 when Peter who promoted bands in Manchester came down with a high temperature, loss of appetite and feeling weak.

Mrs Williamson said: 'We immediately thought it was swine flu, so we called the NHS Direct help line but they refused to give him Tamiflu, even though he should have had it anyway. They just said he needed further assessment by a doctor.'

The next day when Peter's condition worsened they decided to go to Hope Hospital A&E department in Salford. They were kept waiting for 90 minutes before Peter was found a room.



'Peter was so weak he struggled to get out of the car,' added Susan.

'Other patients were being given rooms for treatment but not my son.



'In the end I went and got a nurse because he was finding it hard to breathe but when she saw he could talk she just said he obviously can breathe. I was so shocked.



'She examined him but said it was just a virus and to go home, but before we left she turned around to him and said "do you realise we do have sick people in this hospital?", as if we had completely wasted her time. I was absolutely horrified.

'As we walked out Peter shouted at them saying, "It's swine flu, I told you my friend has had it, I'll be dead within a week". He then turned round to me and said "when I'm dead, sue the a**es off of them".'

Susan Williamson found her son Peter dead in his flat after she went around to check on him. He had been suffering from swine flu



Peter's condition deteriorated and he was left so weak that he had to use a mobility scooter to go food shopping with his mother.



Two days later Susan went round to visit Peter as she was concerned about him: 'He was clearly getting worse so I phoned for an ambulance.



'When they arrived they just looked at him and asked him what drugs had he taken, and said he shouldn't be frightened in telling them just because his mum was there.



'He turned round to me and said "when I'm dead, sue the a**es off of them".' Susan Williamson, Peter's mother



'We finally convinced them he hadn't taken drugs and they properly examined him and again said he didn't need to go to the hospital.



'He phoned us on Thursday evening crying and said he had never felt so ill in all his life and that he was hallucinating, probably because his temperature was so high.



'He was too frightened to go to sleep because he was scared he wouldn't wake up again.'



The next day Peter put himself in to a taxi and went alone to a walk-in health centre in Manchester city centre but was turned away again and rang his mother.



'It was the last time I spoke to him, he just sounded so weak and tired,' Susan said.

'I had arranged for TV engineers to go round and fix something at his house but they called me when they got no answer.



'I thought he was just in bed so I went round, the lights were all on in his flat and I just pulled the handle and the door opened, and there he was.



'At the inquest the pathologist confirmed that it was swine flu and that he could have probably survived had he proper received treatment in time. It's just unbelievable he was neglected in this way.'

Mr Williamson sought help from the Accident & Emergency department at the Hope Hospital - now the Salford Royal. His mother said a nurse refused to believe he was sick

Mark Slater, partner at Manchester law firm Price and Slater, who is representing the Williamson family said: 'In all my years as a medical negligence lawyer Peter's case has to be one of the most tragic because it should have easily have been prevented.



'I was so surprised in Peter's case to hear that at a time when Tamiflu was more widely available than vitamin C pills that here was a family who was telling me that they tried four times and just couldn't get it.



'Not long after he died it was reported that the vaccine had been over-used yet here was Peter unable to get the help he needed.



'A young life has been wasted because staff did not consider the possibility he had swine flu. We are still investigating whether or not the missed diagnosis was the result of negligent care or a tragic sequence of unavoidable errors.'



A spokesman for Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We are sorry to learn that the family have concerns.

