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A mum-of-three collapsed and suddenly died just days after attending A&E, leaving her family heartbroken. Kellie Montgomery, 37 and from Co Down , attended the Emergency Department at the Ulster Hospital on September 23 due to the pain she was experiencing as a result of endometriosis . She died six days later at home. According to her partner John Fletcher, she was discharged at 2am despite being told she would be kept overnight. He said she left the hospital in pain and had to wait outside in the cold. Kellie leaves behind three children - Mollie, 15, Max, seven, and Madison, four. There is no suggestion her death is linked to her treatment at A&E. But her family say they still don't know why she died. Speaking to BBC's The Nolan Show, John raised concerns about Kellie's treatment. Recalling Kellie's illness, he said: "We had rang her GP and they referred her to A&E as the only way basically to get moved up the list. She went to A&E, got checked in and was taken to triage. "She was in such bad a state she could barely walk and when she got up she nearly collapsed. The girl put her in a wheelchair and back out into the waiting room. "I went out and got her a pillow from the car I had brought with us. It ended up that they took her in, put her on a drip and then sent her back out to the waiting room. We sat there from 11am and it was 8.30pm Kellie got so distressed that she was actually lying on the floor on top of the pillow. "She was so distressed that she actually tried to pull the medication out of her arm. I got one of the nurses to come out to her and they took her into a back area and put her on a drip for pain relief. They said 'we're sending you home' and I said 'she can't walk'." Kellie was about to be sent home with a box of co-codamol and told to come back in a few days, when one nurse came over and realised how ill she was, BelfastLive reports. Kellie was moved to another ward in A&E and into a reclining chair which John says provided 'slight ease'. He added: "They (the doctors) proceeded to give her more medication and the nurse told her she would be kept there all night. At this point, I had my mum and brothers looking after the young kids from 11am and it was pushing 11pm. I left to go home in the knowledge that Kellie was safe and being looked after." John returned home and kept in contact with Kellie who assured him she was being taken care of, had had more tests done and was due to see a nurse. But just a few hours later, John says he started receiving concerning messages. "At 2am, Kellie's sister in Liverpool had contacted me with a phone message saying 'Kellie's been kicked out'. They came around, put a catheter on her and then took it off again. She was very disturbed by the whole thing." He said Kellie was told she was being sent home as the reclining chair she had been using was needed by another patient. She was told to return to the hospital in a few days time for a scan. "Kellie told them she had no way to get home. She was in horrendous pain. I think they had maybe given her some pain relief but she told me she was very, very sore and wasn't great," John added. He claimed Kellie was advised that she could get a taxi home, despite telling a nurse she couldn't afford the £30-40 fare. John said: "Kellie was really disturbed at this point. She had packed up her stuff and was making her way down the corridor in extreme pain. She had come across my nephew and his girlfriend in A&E and told them: 'I'm really sick and they're throwing me out'. She was in tears." John said he then jumped into the car and drove to the hospital where he said he found Kellie lying outside on the ground in extreme pain. She spent the following days at home in bed before collapsing in the bathroom. Despite John's best efforts to revive his partner and give her CPR, Kellie was transferred to hospital by ambulance but didn't make it. In a statement, a spokesperson for The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust said: "The South Eastern Trust was deeply saddened when it learned of the death of Kellie Montgomery. "Kellie attended our Emergency Department (ED) on the September 23. Once assessed and treated by the relevant clinical teams, Kellie was discharged from the Emergency Department however, she was referred for further investigations to be carried out In the Ulster Hospital the following day. "Kellie attended for these investigations. When Kellie was discharged from the ED, staff offered to order a taxi for her, but she chose to remain overnight in the ED, to wait for her partner to pick her up in the morning. "The Trust would like to extend its sincere condolences to Kellie’s partner, her children and wider family circle at this very difficult time."
