Family left devastated at death of ‘wonderful wife and mother’

THE HUSBAND of a Cork GP who died from a brain aneurysm, days after being diagnosed with migraine, has said she was a “wonderful wife and mother”.

Eoin Clifford said he and his children, Laoise, Orla and Emer, are still devastated by her death.

“Niamh was a wonderful wife and mother and her passing has left an incalculable void in the lives of those left behind including her family and our three beautiful girls.

“Contrary to what I was told in the hospital, things could have been done differently which would have increased Niamh’s chances.”

Dr Niamh Long’s inquest was told that several people benefited from her family’s decision to consent to organ donation, including one man who had been on dialysis for four years.

Dr Long presented at Cork University Hospital on January 6 but was discharged that day after Dr Gergely Halasz diagnosed her with a migraine.

He said based on her symptoms at that time, he believed a CT scan wasn’t needed but he admitted yesterday that his “migraine diagnosis was wrong.

Dr Long was readmitted to CUH the following day where a CT scan revealed a bleed in her brain due to a ruptured aneurysm.

Neurosurgeon Charles Marks performed emergency brain surgery on January 8 to try and “clip” the aneurysm which was located over a diseased section of artery. It was a high-risk operation on an artery supplying oxygen to Dr Long’s brain. During the procedure, the clip cut part of the artery wall. He eventually had to clip off the entire carotid artery to stem the bleeding.

Dr Long suffered a stroke and died in CUH on January 12.

Cork City Coroner’s Court recorded a verdict of death by medical misadventure.

Dr Long helped shape a number of medical publications, including the GP Trainee magazine and booklets for the Medical Protection Society.

In 2007, she was one of two people appointed as the first medicolegal consultants based in Ireland.