07 March 2024 , 13:07
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A dad died suddenly after his "crippling fear" of hospitals stopped him from getting help.
Paul Macintosh, 36, was discovered on his bedroom floor by his heartbroken mum Suzanne on Friday, following two fits the week before. Emergency services were called and paramedics advised Mr Macintosh to go to hospital after the seizures but he refused.
Suzanne, 55, who is also gran to Paul's 17-year-old son, Declan, is now pleading with other young men who are put off visiting doctors and hospitals to get help before it's too late. The grandmother said: "It's just devastating and I can't comprehend what has happened.
"Paul has never really had any health problems, he's hardly been to a GP, so when the fits came out of nowhere, it was a shock. A week before he passed, I heard banging coming from his room and I went to ask what on earth he was doing. I saw him having a fit and his head was banging off a set of drawers. There was no response from him, so I called 999 immediately.
"He had come round by the time an ambulance arrived and the paramedics made sure he was ok, but advised that he should go to the hospital to be checked over. Paul was petrified of hospitals and had a crippling fear of them after his granddad went into one and never came back out, so he just didn't want to go."
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Paul suffered another fit a few days later. The emergency services attended again and advised him to go to hospital for a second time. Suzanne continued, talking : "I told him that he really needed to go in, but he just wouldn't listen. Now I wish I'd forced him to go.
"He seemed fine on the night he died and the last time I saw him, at around 8pm, he was asking if I wanted a coffee. But when I walked into his room at 7.40am to wake him up, and he was lying on the floor dead.
"It's hard to believe that just last week, I was moaning at him for raiding my fridge all the time, but now he's gone I do anything to have him back here with me, winding me up.
"I would urge any young man like Paul to make sure you they get medical help when it's needed. If Paul had gone to hospital last week, he might still be here now."
Suzanne is now waiting for a post-mortem and hopes it will give the family some much-needed answers as to what happened. A fundraiser has been set to help with funeral costs here.