SA woman misdiagnosed with a migraine despite presenting with ‘stabbing’ pain and slurred speech, inquest hears

A young Adelaide woman who died from a stroke after being wrongly diagnosed with a migraine told her mother she was “dying on the bathroom floor” and in “agony” because of the severe pain.

Kate Sylvia’s mother Kathryn fronted a coronial inquest on Tuesday following the death of her daughter in December 2021.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Kate Sylvia’s mother fronts coronial inquest to desperately search for answers

The 32-year-old died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital after suffering from stroke symptoms for days and despite trying to seek help from medical professionals.

Kathryn told South Australia’s Coroners Court she initially received a text from her daughter on December 1 which said: “Sorry, migraine pain, agony, dying on bathroom floor.”

The next morning Kathryn called triple-0 for her daughter and told the dispatcher she was in extreme pain and was struggling to keep anything down.

“She’s vomiting and it’s a huge stabbing pain and she’s had a headache since yesterday,” Kathryn said in a recorded phone call to SA Ambulance that was played in court.

“This has just escalated and I’ve just called her but she’s quite ... she can’t talk properly.”

Paramedics took Kate, who at this point was slurring her words, to a hospital avoidance centre in Sefton Park.

According to SA Health these centres provide rapid assessment and acute care for patients who “are on trajectory to present to a hospital emergency department, but do not require ‘emergency level’ care”.

Despite her condition, doctors diagnosed her with a migraine and she was discharged.

But by December 3 Kate’s health had not improved and she was struggling to walk or see without help.

Her mother decided to take her to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she waited several hours before being given a bed in the emergency department.

Doctors then decided she needed to be transferred to the Royal Adelaide however it took five hours for an ambulance to become available to take her

Three days later, the 32-year-old died.

Speaking outside the court Kathryn said the health system had failed her daughter and that she “never should have died”.

“(I was) continually trying to convince people that Kate wasn’t well, she wasn’t herself,” she said.

“She was quite seriously unwell.”

Kathryn said life without her daughter was difficult and had only gotten harder.

“(It’s a) very different life now,” she said.

The coronial inquest continues.