Savita's husband remembers her final hours

Savita, aged 31, was 17 weeks pregnant when she died in University Hospital Galway after suffering a miscarriage and septicaemia.

Her husband Praveen, 34, claimed she had complained of being in agonising pain. He has said that doctors refused to carry out a medical termination because the foetus’s heartbeat was present.

Mr Halappanavar has claimed that following several requests by his late wife for a termination, they were told: “This is a Catholic country.”

'Be brave'

Despite being repeatedly reassured that Savita, 31, would pull through, her condition only deteriorated until he was finally called to her death bed to say his last goodbye, he said.

“In the night, at around one o’clock, the nurse came running, as I was standing outside ICU,” the 34-year-old said.

“She just told me to be brave, and she took me near Savita, and she said: ’Will you be ok to be there, living her last minutes?

“I said: ’Yes, I want to’. I was holding her hand, they were trying to pump her heart, there was a big team around. The doctor just told me they lost her.”

Praveen, who works at Boston Scientific in Galway, came to Ireland from India with Savita four years ago to start a new life together. Dentist Savita had a job in Westport, Co Mayo and the pair lived in Galway city.

They were so excited about the expected birth of their first child, which was due on March 20, that they had an early baby shower in recent weeks when Savita’s parents were visiting.

But their world began to fall apart when Savita’s back pain worsened and she was forced to seek medical help at University Hospital Galway on the morning of Sunday October 21.

After routine tests the young mother-to-be was told everything was fine and the couple were sent home. But within an hour of returning, Savita was positive something was wrong after using the bathroom.

“She was in tears, she was in shock,” said Praveen. “So immediately we rushed back to the hospital.”

After similar tests again showed up nothing unusual, Savita asked to be seen by a doctor. Following a more in-depth examination, she was told around noon that there had been a cervical dilation and the medics would not be able to save the baby.

The pair were told it would all be over in four to five hours, and then Savita could go home. But she remained in agony and two days later the young dentist’s health began to sharply deteriorate.

“On Tuesday night, things really started getting worse... All of a sudden Savita started feeling cold, she started shivering terribly,” said Praveen.

She was taken into the hospital’s high dependency unit before being transferred to intensive care.

By Friday morning, Praveen was asked by a midwife if he had told Savita’s family, who were travelling back to India, about the severity of her condition. Savita didn’t want to worry them until they returned home.

“I just told them she is still in the hospital and that she is fine, she is doing well. I only told them about the miscarriage,” said Praveen, speaking to RTE from Belgaum, in Karnataka, in south west India.

“But (the midwife) said you have to tell them that she is critically ill. She said it is better that her parents and all her family know about it.”

In the early hours of Sunday, October 28, Savita died. Praveen took her body back to India to be cremated and laid to rest.