A Swansea man who went to his GP after feeling ill and was sent home with just an antibiotic has now lost the use of his right arm. Michael Gwyther found himself at Morriston Hospital A&E after he went to his GP on December 4, 2024 as he was feeling unwell.
Due to the nature of his infection Michael, from Swansea, asked to see a male GP but there was none available at his surgery, so he was referred to another GP surgery in the network that had male doctors available. Here he claims he was giving no diabetic tests and was simply sent home with antibiotics.
Michael explained that since he's a diabetic, his usual visits to the GP involve diabetic tests. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here.
"That day, it felt a lot more rushed," Michael said. "They didn't do any checks that I would normally get for diabetes. He said it was an infection but it wasn't serious and asked me to come back in a week."
However, as the night fell, Michael started feeling worse and dialled 111.
"They put me straight through to the nurse practitioner, they usually call you back, but this time they put me through," Michael said.
"We weren't on the phone long and she said these things are quite serious, we're going to send you to hospital."
However, Michael was told there were no ambulances available for at least 10 hours that day, and a taxi was therefore arranged to take him to Morriston Hospital. In March this year, immediate improvements were ordered at Morriston Hospital's A&E after inspectors found "significant patient safety concerns." Plans to expand the hospital were also announced for in August this year.
"So that [taxi] arrived, but I don't remember anything from the hospital until about 10, 11 days later," he said. "At about three o'clock in the morning (December 5), I went into respiratory arrest and they moved me to ICU."
Once he was in the ICU, Michael says he had about "10 different surgeries" to remove the infections and he was put in an induced coma.
"They brought me out of the coma on December 10 but I was still under heavy sedation for like a week after that," he explained. "So, I started to come 'round, around December 14 and after that they realised there was something wrong with the arm."
However, he claims that even after he regained consciousness no one "acknowledged" his arm injury.
"It wasn't until I got to the Tempest ward did I get any physio or any real care," Michael claims.
Michael stresses that when he went to the hospital there was nothing wrong with his arm and that he had sought advice about a completely different issue.
"I walked in with my arm perfectly fine and for the doctor's appointment in the morning I didn't go about my arm," he said. "I had no injury to my arm, no illness to my arm, so it was quite a shock when I woke up.
"I was a bit dazed for a couple of days but when I finally came round, I was broken, because the worst fear anyone can have is losing a limb, isn't it?
"I feel hugely let down. I've been chasing for answers and just not getting anywhere. That has been really isolating.
"When I was in the ICU, I had a lot of ICU delirium. I was seeing things, I was hearing things and it was really scary. I get nightmares now at night time and I just don't sleep because it can be quite emotionally difficult sometimes."
Michael believes something went wrong while he was sedated in the hospital that has led to his right arm being paralysed.
"During my eight days in sedation, I was either left on my side for too long in ICU or I was left doing surgery too long, they can't make their mind up which element it was," he claims.
"But I suffered a brachial plexus injury from compression of the nerves in my right arm and it has permanently paralysed my ability to use my right arm completely."
He also claims that the hospital didn't inform his family when he was admitted, causing "distress."
Michael's brother was aware that he had been feeling unwell as he was the one who took Michael to his GP appointment on December 4.
Just before he left for the hospital, Michael sent a text to his brother informing him that he was going to hospital.
"He had to phone multiple departments to try and get an answer to where I was and at the time I was actually in surgery when they finally got me and what ward I was on," Michael explained. "But for most of the first day they were not engaging with him."
When Michael's brother enquired why he wasn't called, the hospital told him it was due to out-of-date records. However, Michael claims that he has a page in his notes that mentions that he provided his brother's up-to-date contact details on December 5.
"They had no reason not to call him but they didn't, and by not calling them they caused a lot of distress in the family because they didn't know what was going on or where I was," he said.
While he was in the hospital, Michael got multi drug resistance (MDR) and Covid along with other infections, which meant he had to stay in the hospital for nearly two months.
When he was discharged at the end of January, he was given a letter of candour, which he states is "acknowledging something serious has happened, but not admitting liability. "
He added: "Since I left the hospital, initially they were helpful but neurology didn't book an appointment, psychology didn't book an appointment.
"There was no aftercare. I was left on my own. Only now, in the last month after kicking up a stink, am I getting anywhere with psychology, neurology, physio."
Michael had to wait from January until April for one physiotherapy session. The second one was then booked two weeks later but he then had to wait until August for physiotherapy sessions.
Swansea Bay University Health Board has launched an investigation into the matter and a serious case review was undertaken in January 2025.
While Michael has been trying to get answers on the progress of the investigation, he says the last he heard from them was in May 2025 and claims the health board has now stopped responding to his requests.
"It would mean a little bit of closure, maybe a little bit of accepting that something went wrong and they're going to try and make things better so that it doesn't happen to someone else," he said.
"It's more about the dodging of accountability is part of it for me."
A Swansea University Health Board spokesperson said: "We are very sorry to hear of Mr Gwyther's concerns regarding his care.
"As this matter is currently being investigated, we are not able to comment any further at this time.
"However, we will shortly be responding to Mr Gwyther directly with a full update following the completion of our investigation."