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A mum who put running a half marathon on her bucket list died after a fractured femur was mistaken for a pulled hamstring.

Sarah-Jayne Roche suffered a shooting pain in her leg 10km into the Cardiff Half Marathon last October.

She was told it was likely to be a hamstring injury and was advised to apply ice and take paracetemol.

But the 39-year-old mum of two from Treorchy died 12 days later after suffering a cardiac arrest during what should have been an hour-long operation to repair the fracture.

In the days before the operation, she had been taken to A&E by relatives three times but X-rays were not carried out until days afterwards.

Her devastated family said she had always wanted to complete a marathon before she turned 40 and decided to raise money for Parkinsons UK after her father was struck down with the illness.

(Image: Steven Roche)

Her mother Pat told Wales Online : "She was vivacious, she was lovely, gorgeous. She kept us all in hand - if she had anything to say she would tell you, she wouldn't beat around the bush.

"That was what was so nice about her...she loved her job (as head of learning support at Treorchy Comprehensive), really loved it. They respected her."

Sarah-Jayne's husband Steven said: "As upset as I feel, I feel more aggrieved for our two boys. Robbed is probably the best word.

"At least I had 18 years with her, whereas they are not going to have their good times, be that going through school, my first whatever - she’s not going to be there.

"One of the first things I wanted was to just document everything. [The boys] are young and it would be nice in time for them to have something to look through and reflect on and hit home that even though she’s not here they know what type of mother she was."

In the months before the Cardiff Half Marathon, Steven and Sarah-Jayne began to train together.

On the day of the event, cheered on by Sarah-Jayne's sister Sally, the pair lined up at the starting point.

Sally said: "I was there with my youngest son and some friends. We managed to get to the start line and get a video. They looked very laid back, at the starting line they were waving and smiling."

However, as Sarah-Jayne hit the 10km mark, tragedy struck.

Coming to a halt, she described to Steven a sudden shooting pain in her leg.

Unable to continue, she was taken to a medical tent to be examined by race volunteers.

(Image: Richard Williams/WalesOnline)

Steven said: "She was really determined - if she had her mind set on something she would do it - and she prepared diligently for the matter.

"She had done everything asked of her and was ready for the event on the day. From July onwards we were training two, maybe three times a week.

"When she pulled up I stopped alongside and asked her what it was. She said she couldn’t run anymore. She just felt a shooting pain.

"I just thought at first she had a bit of cramp but then she said she couldn’t move that’s when we called for help.

"They called for an ambulance and after maybe 20 or 30 minutes Sarah told me to go on and finish the race."

At the medical tent at the event Sarah-Jayne was advised the pain was likely from a hamstring injury, and told to apply ice and take paracetemol.

But concerned by the pain she was in, her family decided to take her to A&E at the Royal Glamorgan hospital that afternoon.

Steven said: "We eventually got seen by somebody in A&E. Based on what they had seen, even though she could’t weight bare, they said they suspected a hamstring tear of some sort and gave the same advice with paracetamol and to put some ice on it.

"The following day the pain hadn’t alleviated and Sarah was complaining one leg was colder than the other, the affected leg.

"Later that afternoon we went to the Royal Glam and after several hours eventually got seen by a consultant. They didn't feel any other investigation was needed.

"She even struggled to use crutches the pain was that much. She was literally on her hands and knees to shuffle herself up the stairs.

"She just acted on the advice the hospital gave her.

"You just assume this is what happens but after three four days the pain wasn’t getting better."

(Image: Sally Payter)

From there Sarah-Jayne and her family were told to wait until an appointment that had been booked with a soft tissue specialist the following Friday after the race.

At the appointment, despite the swelling, her family claim Sarah-Jayne was given stronger painkillers and told no immediate action was needed that day.

But on Tuesday, October 16 her mother and father found themselves with no choice but to take their daughter back to the hospital for a fourth time as the pain intensified - where it was found she had fractured the bottom of her femur.

Steven said: "Sarah was down her mum and dad’s and it got to the point where she literally couldn’t get out her chair she was in so much agony.

"They took her to A&E and after a few hours then, having seen her leg which was twice the size, they then decided to x-ray and it was then they found the fracture.

"On October 17 they did a small operation to straighten out her leg as much as possible and booked her for the operation on the Friday afternoon."

For Sarah-Jayne's family, the hours that surround her last day are understandably difficult to comprehend.

(Image: Steven Roche)

On the afternoon after the procedure to correct her leg, they were called into the Royal Glamorgan hospital and told the active, healthy mother had suffered from a cardiac arrest during the operation, and that resuscitation had been unsuccessful.

Steven said: "They were going to put a nail in her leg so my understanding was that it was only a straightforward procedure that would only taken between an hour, and hour and a half.

"She was the only one going into theatre that afternoon so I went there about 3pm. Time does tick on but you think perhaps they are busy or perhaps they didn’t start straight away.

"It was after 4pm [when] they suddenly came in and sat down with me and said problems had arisen and that she had gone into cardiac arrest. Things went downhill from there.

"They tried as best they could to resuscitate her back. The family arrived and we were there and that was that.

"It was difficult because no sooner had it happened, you’re seeing it there in front of your eyes, then 20, 30 minutes after you have to come home and tell your children mummy is not going to be back.

"It’s a different type of trauma. It's not like she had cancer and we were expecting it, we were expecting her to come out and recover.

"Our understanding was after this operation she would be out for the best part of four to six months so we were just assuming we would get ready for that. Never in a million years did we think this was ever going to happen."

(Image: Alan Newman)

By speaking publicly about their loss, Sarah-Jayne's family want to make sure she is remembered in the best way possible - as a much-loved daughter, sister, aunt and mother who would never fail to bring a room to life.

But her family have a long journey for answers ahead, after facing delays to a final inquest date caused, in part, by a series of missed deadlines for the health board to submit relevant statement.

Speaking in a pre-inquest review held on Friday, coroner Graeme Hughes criticised the delays as "unacceptable".

Addressing NHS Wales legal representative Gavin Knox, he said: "This is a family who have gone through a traumatic and unexpected death of a mother, a wife, a sister, among others.

"It is not acceptable that matters relating to this in question have been exacerbated by significant procedural delays.

"Not only does that accentuate the grief that the family have, and understandably so, which is the most important consequence of the delay, but as far as the administration of justice is concerned, it means...I have to stop what I am doing and put aside other matters that may be urgent as well."

A spokeswoman for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board said: "While we cannot comment on the circumstances of individual cases, we were deeply saddened by the passing of Mrs Roche and our thoughts remain with her family at this difficult time."