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The brother of a man who tragically died following a botched hospital operation has spoken out about the ongoing grief that continues to haunt his family. Keith Williamson, a father of two, was just 42 when he underwent what should have been routine valve replacement surgery at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital in October 2015. However, during the procedure, lead surgeon Darryl Chung mistakenly inserted the wrong type of valve. As previously reported by North Wales Live, an inquest held in Liverpool in 2016 found this error to be a direct result of a breakdown in communication within the theatre team operating on Keith. Following the botched operation, Keith was transferred to the specialist Papworth cardiothoracic hospital in Cambridge, where he sadly passed away more than three weeks later. Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital has since issued an apology to Keith's grieving family. Both the hospital and Mr Chung have admitted liability and negligence, acknowledging a breach of duty of care towards Mr Williamson. More than a decade after his untimely death, Keith's brother, Stewart Williamson, told the ECHO that he and his family are still grappling with their loss. Keith was born in Whiston and they both lived in Runcorn with their parents until their dad died. After that, they moved to Kinmel Bay in North Wales. Stewart said: "Keith got into heavy rock, he grew his hair out. In his later years, he became a gas engineer and was a very successful one. He played the guitar, he liked The Beatles and had two young children." It was in 2015 that Keith started getting out of breath at work and he saw his doctor about it. Stewart said: "He wasn't unwell or anything, he was just getting out of breath. That's when he's seen by a doctor who says, you are getting out of breath, you obviously don't know what's going on with your heart, you've got children, you are running around playing football, you're suffering and you can't understand why." Keith was then transferred from North Wales Cardiac Centre to Liverpool Heart and Chest, where he started receiving regular appointments to look into the issue. Stewart remembers vividly what his brother told him before the operation. He said: "He asked me to drive him in. He said, I don't want any fuss, I just want to have my operation and then when I'm healed, everyone can come and see me. "But I don't want people to come and see me while I'm in bed, I would rather face up to it myself." It was after this that things started to go wrong. Keith was supposed to have one type of valve inserted, but during the course of the operation, Mr Chung changed his mind and decided to insert a different valve. However, this was not communicated to the other members of the operating team, who handed Mr Chung the wrong valve which he then put in. Stewart said: "We never heard from him again as he was put in an induced coma. We just kept on visiting. We noticed his colour had gone completely white and his body had swollen up, but he was still there. "October 29 - that's when his small intestines collapsed. He was pronounced dead on October 30." Stewart thanked the nurses for their help and hopes that procedures have been improved following Keith's death. The grief is still something the family are dealing with. He said: "You've got to understand that grief can pull families together but it does rip people apart (as well) because people are angry and they're always looking for answers. "Something triggers inside your brain that brings these thoughts back again. Today I thought, oh my God, it's been 10 years." When asked how he would like Keith to be remembered, Stewart said: "I would like to think of him as someone who was passionate [about] Liverpool Football Club, and also The Beatles and Elvis Presley. "He would do anything for anybody. He always sympathised with the human person rather than an organisation." The hospital has since changed its procedures and introduced more checks in a bid to prevent such a mistake happening again. An inquest into Mr Williamson's death recorded a "narrative" conclusion. At the time, family solicitor Lindsey Pierce said: "This was a tragic breakdown in communication between the surgeon and medical staff at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, that ultimately lead to the death of Mr Williamson." Jane Tomkinson, chief executive of Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We would like to express our sincerest condolences to the family of Mr Williamson and say how deeply sorry we are for what happened. We fully accept the coroner's narrative conclusion. "We can also confirm that the consultant surgeon leading the case is no longer employed by the Trust." Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox Find out what's happening near you
