‘Every special occasion is tainted by our loss’

“My family has been torn apart. Every Christmas, every birthday and every special occasion will forever be tainted by this loss.”

Those were the words of Seamus Hamilton outside the Four Courts yesterday after he had heard an apology read out in the High Court from Letterkenny General Hospital that the cancer which killed his young wife was not diagnosed and treated at an earlier stage.

Melissa Hamilton was only 34 when she died, eight days after the delivery of her third child and only two weeks after her cancer was finally diagnosed.

Her husband Seamus and their three children Jessica, 10, Darcey, 6, and Gracie, 3, yesterday settled actions for damages over the wrongful death of Melissa in 2011.

The settlement includes a payment of €900,000 to the children and this was yesterday approved by Mr Justice Anthony Barr.

Mr Hamilton said if only the cancer had been found sooner, his wife would still be with them today.

“Jessica, Darcey and Gracie have to grow up without a mother. I have had to spend and will have to spend the rest of my life without my wife,” he said.

He added: “An integral and monumental part of my children’s lives has been taken from them. All the children except my eldest Jessica will have no memory of their mother and because Jessica does remember, she is tortured for life with the fear of losing everyone around her after losing her mother so suddenly.”

Melissa, he said, was so young with her whole life ahead of her.

“My family has been torn apart. My children are going to grow up motherless and worse of all they will eventually know that their mother’s death could have been prevented.”

The drive to take the legal action he said came from Melissa’s name and memory.

“I regret that I had to take this to arrive at the truth of what happened to the mother of my three girls,” he said.

Asked how he felt at the close of the case, he said: “Words don’t describe it. It’s too bad that I had to come this far to get the truth. They have read out a full apology. All of that is nice, but it doesn’t bring Melissa back.”