Woman, 54, died after night out before daughter discovered chilling detail on photo doctors dismissed

A 54-year-old mom died in her sleep after a night out with friends, months after hospital doctors told her everything was “fine”.

Her daughter later uncovered a troubling detail in a photo her mom had taken of a medical test that appeared to flag a warning doctors did not act on.

Tracey McGrann, a mom-of-three from Birkenhead, UK, died during a late May public holiday weekend in 2024 after spending the evening celebrating a friend’s birthday at a local pub. The following morning, her 16-year-old daughter found her dead in bed.

Just three months earlier, Tracey had been told to go to the ER after an ECG carried out by her doctor showed concerns.

Hospital visit before her death

Tracey attended St Catherine’s Health Centre, complaining of chest pain, and was later instructed by text message to go straight to the ER after her ECG results were reviewed.

Because she suffered from a severe fear of hospitals, one of her close friends accompanied her to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral.

“My mum was someone who was scared of dying and terrified of hospitals, so for her to pluck up the courage and go was huge,” her daughter Leah McGrann told Medical Negligence Assist.

At the hospital, another ECG was carried out. Tracey photographed the result on the screen before being discharged minutes later and reassured that everything was “fine”.

It was later claimed that doctors failed to sign off the ECG during the busy public holiday period, despite the test having flagged an abnormality.

Daughter discovers a detail in a phone picture

An inquest later concluded Tracey died from ischemic heart disease, a condition that causes narrowing of the arteries.

Around a year after her mother’s death, Leah discovered a photo her mom had taken of the ECG when it appeared in her phone’s memories.

“I was paying my mum’s contract, and saw that she took a photo of the ECG on the day she went to A&E - it popped up on her iPhone’s memories.

“I feel like my mum was watching over me, and she sent that memory to me so that I would see it. On her ECG, it read - ‘moderate T-wave abnormality, consider anterior ischemia’.

“When I saw that, I looked at the date to confirm that it was sent on the day she went to A&E - 9th Feb, 2024. The text message she received from her GP instructing her to go to A&E was sent on the same day. It all matched, and it even flagged up ‘consider ischemia’, which they did not.”

Family questions missed warning

Leah later raised the issue with the trust that runs Arrowe Park Hospital.

“They explained that they don’t keep copies of ECG results so there was no paper trail. The only way this was caught was because my mum took a photo of her reading at the time.”

Solicitor Rachel Donovan said: "The tragedy about this case is that it was so preventable. Tracey did everything right.

“In 2024, she started to suffer with chest pains and shortness of breath so she attended her GP and she underwent an ECG. This was noted to be abnormal, and she was referred to her local hospital’s emergency department, which was Arrowe Park Hospital, where the tragic misdiagnosis occurred.

“This has caused the family to lose their mother and grandmother, and a loved sister and friend. Lessons need to be learnt."

Featured image credit: Medical Negligence Assist