MF Doom’s Wife Sheds Light on Circumstances of His Death

MF Doom’s widow, Jasmine Dumile, has raised concerns about her late husband’s hospital care at an inquest into his death at Wakefield Coroner’s Court, local outlet LeedsLive reports. Doom, who was born Dumile Daniel Thompson in the United Kingdom and moved back to England with his family in 2010, died in Leeds in October 2020 after a severe reaction to a blood pressure medication. He was diagnosed with angioedema, a rare and sudden form of swelling that inhibited his breathing. Medics kept him on a respirator until his death, aged 49, on October 31.

Before his death, MF Doom seemed fit and well but had a number of health conditions including kidney disease, Jasmine Dumile told the inquest. After two doses of a new blood pressure medication, he went to an emergency room with breathing problems and swelling of the throat and tongue. He stayed in what Jasmine Dumile portrayed as a substandard hospital room with a bed and an old metal desk. “I don’t want to say it was an old storage room,” she told the inquest, but “it wasn’t set up.” Medics in the courtroom said it was one of several rooms attached to the emergency department. Doom died during the United Kingdom’s second wave of COVID-19 fatalities, though it is unclear whether bed shortages affected his treatment.

During his stay, Doom’s health suddenly deteriorated, the inquest heard. On October 21, struggling to breathe, he tried to get off his hospital trolley, collapsed, and went into respiratory arrest. Jasmine Dumile’s legal representatives questioned the frequency of welfare check-ups and, in one instance, a two-hour delay in giving medication for his throat swelling. During another sudden downturn, his help buzzer had been placed out of reach, the inquest heard. Jasmine Dumile said, at one point, she received a distress call from her husband and had to call the hospital to inform nurses herself. Due to pandemic restrictions, she was barred from in-person visits until staff turned off the respirator on the day of his death.

The hospital trust said it carried out a “serious incident investigation” after MF Doom’s death and shared the report with his family. It has subsequently recommended updates to the hospital’s management of patients with angioedema. The inquest is ongoing. 

Chief medical officer Dr. Hamish McLure also issued an apology on behalf of the hospital trust, reports The Guardian. “I would like to offer our sincere condolences to Daniel’s family, friends and fans at this difficult time. I apologize that the care he received was not to the standard we would expect,” he said. “We have put in place a number of actions and the wider learning from what happened is to be used as a teaching topic in a number of different clinical specialities. We also support the coroner’s recommendation for clearer national guidance and awareness in this area.”

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