He spoke about ‘pressing the reset button on life’, a day later he was dead

A much-loved husband and father tragically died eight days after undergoing heart surgery at a private hospital. Dad-of-two Terry Grainger, 61, died at the privately-run Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Stockport, on February 10 last year.

Following tests, he underwent a quadruple heart bypass on February 2 after experiencing chest pain for months. A coroner has now recorded a narrative conclusion following an inquest at Stockport Coroners’ Court.

Paying touching tribute, Mr Grainger’s widow Karen, 54, described him as ‘my everything’. “He was my rock, my soulmate and best friend,” she said.

“He was a true gentleman and friends described him as dependable. Around 300 people attended his funeral, which shows just how much he was loved. The day Terry died all our lives changed forever.”

Mr Grainger, from Bolton, seemed to be recovering well after surgery, the inquest heard, but started to complain of issues including a shortness of breath. After scans, he was found to have a build-up of fluid around his lungs.

A chest drain was fitted on February 9 and ‘appeared to be doing its job’, coroner Christopher Morris said summoning up the evidence. He said Mr Grainger talked about ‘pressing the reset button on life’ at that time. The chest drain remained in place overnight and he ‘gave no cause for concern’, the coroner added.

It was removed the morning after, but the inquest heard Mr Grainger began to feel unwell. Coroner Mr Morris spoke of a ‘rapidly developing situation’.

The inquest heard an X-ray was requested – described as a standard check after a chest drain removal – and medics were ‘puzzled by the degree of pain’ he was in, as patients usually feel better after chest drains are removed. .

The court was told the X-ray showed bleeding and Mr Grainger was moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit. His condition, however, deteriorated ‘rapidly’ and a decision was made to intubate him. Sadly, he then went into cardiac arrest.

Efforts to resuscitate him failed and he was pronounced dead at 12.55 pm on February, 10, 2024. Mr Morris said it was ‘most likely’ the chest drain acted as a ‘seal’ on the bleeding, which only became apparent when it was removed. He described it as a ‘recognised complication’.

The coroner said he would be issuing a ‘prevention of future deaths’ report to the hospital over its electronic record keeping system.

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Grainger said: “The day Terry died, half of me died with him. We were meant to be together forever, and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same person without Terry in my life.

“We worked and saved hard and still had so many hopes and ambitions for the future. However, we’ll never get to fulfil them now. Facing each day is a challenge without Terry and it’s difficult not to feel angry by losing him at the age we did.

“Our family would do anything not to be in this position, but we know that’s not possible. The inquest and reliving what happened has been particularly distressing but we take some small comfort from at least now understanding why Terry died.”

Shahin Master, a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who represented Mrs Grainger at the inquest, said: “Nothing will make up for the pain the family continue to face but we’re pleased to have at least secured them the answers they deserve. We continue to support them at this distressing time.”

A spokesperson for The Alexandra Hospital said after the inquest: “We would like to express our sincerest condolences to Mr Grainger’s family. We are pleased that the coroner found the actions taken during Mr Grainger’s treatment were appropriate. We will be addressing their findings regarding record keeping in full. The Alexandra Hospital is rated as ‘good’ by the CQC in all five domains, and we have committed to learning every possible lesson from this tragic case.”

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