A grieving family today demanded an inquiry after a mother died following a routine operation to remove a splinter of glass from her foot.

Mrs Farhat Raja, 40, went to Southend Hospital for routine day surgery and within hours was fighting for survival on a life support machine. She died two weeks later.

Now her stunned husband Mohammad, 46, is struggling to come to terms with losing the mother of his four children. Their eldest daughter, who was handicapped, died two years ago, aged 20.

And the family is demanding a full explanation and inquiry by the hospital.

Mrs Raja's cousin, Mohammed, said: "At the moment no one knows exactly what happened. The hospital has been keeping everything very close to its heart."

Mrs Raja reported to the hospital at 8am on December 23. She had trodden on some glass in the garden earlier in the year and, although she managed to remove most of it, a slither still remained embedded making it painful to walk.

Her husband was expecting her back to their home in Chelmsford Avenue, Southend, around 2pm. Instead he got a call from the hospital to go there urgently.

He found his wife on a life support machine in intensive care. A nurse was unable to tell him what had happened but said arrangements would be made for him to see a doctor.

Later the same day he was told that Mrs Raja's blood pressure had fallen dramatically following an epidural injection, her heart had stopped beating and her brain had been starved of oxygen.

Mrs Raja never regained consciousness. Now her youngest daughter, Hina, seven, keeps asking where her mum is. She cannot understand that she went into hospital for a day and will never come home.

Cousin Mr Raja is writing to hospital chief executive David Brackenbury and chairman Mike Brookes.

He said: "There are question marks over what procedure was being followed, who was in attendance, what attempts were made at resuscitation and how long she was starved of oxygen.

"We still don't have any answers. It looks as if something went horribly wrong."

A post mortem revealed the cause of death as cerebral inoxia - starvation of oxygen to the brain - and hypertensive heart disease, high blood pressure.

Mrs Raja had suffered from high blood pressure, mild asthma and diabetes but her husband said they were all under control through drugs and diet.

Cousin Mr Raja alleged Mrs Raja's husband, who is not a fluent English speaker, had been treated "shabbily" by the hospital.

He said: "They have not made any effort for him to have a proper explanation."

Coroner's officer Alan Watkins said an inquest would be held.

Chris Humbles, the hospital's director of nursing and quality, said a thorough investigation would be carried out when they heard from the Raja family, adding the hospital would be "more than happy" to assist with any interpreting problems.

Looking for answers - Farhat Raja's grieving husband Mohammad and children Hina, Shazia and Vazeem. Left, Mrs Raja

Main picture: MAXINE CLARKE

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