maddy's story
Maddy was both brave and courageous, qualities that brought people together, much like the spirit of the rugby community of which she was a part. In rugby Maddy felt she had found her home.


Maddy tragically passed away in March 2022 at the age of 20, following a rugby injury while playing for UWE, her university team.
Despite a courageous battle in the hospital, Maddy sadly succumbed to sepsis two weeks after the injury. Bright, loving, and athletic, she was described by friends as a shining light in their lives, and she brought laughter and joy to her close-knit family.
Founding maddy's mark
During this incredibly difficult time, her family finds solace in the positive impact Maddy had during her short life and the many people she touched with her kindness, generosity, and love.
They are determined to carry on her legacy through the charity they’ve established in her memory, Maddy’s Mark, which supports causes she was deeply passionate about—mental health for girls and young women and rugby.
In this way, Maddy’s Mark is determined to carry on her example to help other girls and young women to reach their potential, to be bold and magnificent.


Family’s Message
READ FAMILY'S INQUEST STATEMENT
As the inquest concludes, we remind ourselves that the purpose of this court is not to place blame, but to find out what circumstances led to Maddy’s tragic outcome so that policy, behaviour and attitudes can be improved.
The admittance of the numerous failings in her care between March 11-14th will not bring Maddy back to us, but the gravity of her fate combined with the severity and frequency of the errors made, must force change.
It has been a constant struggle to understand how a young healthy 20 year old woman with the world at her fingertips can lose her life to an infection that developed under the care of professionals.
We trusted the system; we trusted that doctors and nurses were following procedure and completing their checks. The inquest has confirmed that they let Maddy down; they let their profession, and the NHS down.
Over the last two weeks, we have heard how between the dates of 11-14th March, during her stay in the orthopaedic ward at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, symptoms were ignored, observations were missed (on one occasion for 16 hours), and basic tests were not completed even when policy required them. Whether this was due to laziness, complacency, or lack of training it is inexcusable. Despite apologies and promises of improvements from many of the staff involved, one doctor could still not muster empathy for his patient as he described Maddy’s death to her parents as ‘disappointing’.
Maddy wasn’t given the chance to beat the infection due to significant delays in its discovery. Maddy was fit, strong, and healthy, she was neither alone nor shy of asking her help; she had a fiercely close family fighting in her corner, and even then her screams of pain and their pleas for help were merely ‘managed’, temporarily quietened with painkillers and sleeping aids while the infection progressed. We will always wonder how the outcome could have differed had ‘Martha’s rule’ already been in place. As all families would, we knew Maddy’s bravery and threshold for pain, we knew how she had behaved and responded to previous illnesses and our concerns were genuine and well-founded. Under Martha’s Rule these concerns would have been listened to, heard and acted on. Following the hip repositioning we had received thumbs up selfies, jokes about the breakfast cart and discussed the logistic of coming home. It was so obvious to us her pain was not related to the injury. Even when a CT scan confirmed this no one investigated.
Only when Maddy’s deterioration in the orthopaedic ward became severe and reached a point it could no longer be ignored, was she rushed to the ICU. Here the hospital care changed gear and suddenly we witnessed the system we had believed in, with experts skilfully examining, diagnosing, and proactively treating. We are particularly grateful to the staff here who fought tirelessly to save her day and night.
Our heartfelt thanks go the ICU nurses who, in the darkest of days found time to sit and to plait her hair, hold her hand and learn about familiar happy tales ready for when Maddy awoke from her slumber. We are in no doubt that breaks were missed, stomachs went hungry and families were joined late because of the extra time you took to care. These small yet oh so significant kindnesses put a glimmer of good into the most unbearable of days – we will always be grateful to these people.
Overall we appreciate that changes have already begun to show through with one of the nurses who let Maddy down so profoundly no longer practicing medicine. But, more must be done to save others from the same fate. We do find some comfort in the reports derived from this inquest, but our main drive forward continues to be Maddy’s Mark, the charity set up in her name to promote girls’ and women’s mental health through the sport of rugby.