A Harrogate man has told an inquest a “cold and insincere” letter from Harrogate District Hospital led to his wife to take her own life days later.
Sarah Jane Louise Tatlow, 57, died on March 26 last year at the home she shared with her husband and two sons in Harrogate.
She had been undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of cervical cancer.
Julian Tatlow told today’s opening day of the inquest in Northallerton that his wife was not fully aware of her “poor prognosis” until she received a letter from one of her doctors at Harrogate District Hospital days before her death.
The letter was sent following an in-person consultation with Ms Tatlow and her husband on March 17.
Ms Tatlow, who was a director of management training and development consultancy Kronos Learning, did not share the letter with her husband, who found it in the days after her death.
He described the letter as “cold and insincere” and said it contained details not made clear to them during the consultation.
He said the use of words such as “slurry” to describe the kind of faecal matter that would have ended up in his wife’s stoma bag, and the shock of her “poor prognosis” would have made his wife question “what is the point?”.
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Mr Tatlow told the inquest in Northallerton:
“I believe if she didn’t receive a copy of this letter, I may still have a wife and my sons a mother.”
The consultant who sent it responded to say:
“The extent of her cancer was confirmed on 10th March after numerous scans. I believe Sarah had come to the conclusion [of the severity of her cancer] following numerous consultations with myself and colleagues.”
Cancer diagnosis
The inquest heard that Ms Tatlow suffered frequent urinary tract infections in late 2020. A routine cervical screening in January 2021 then diagnosed cancer.
Dr Allison Amin, a consultant gynaecologist at Harrogate District Hospital, said she knew instantly it was an aggressive form of cancer that had spread to her pelvic area.
But Mr Tatlow said in an opening statement, which was read out at the inquest, that neither he nor his wife was aware of her “poor prognosis”. He said all the consultations had suggested that operations could “give her a better quality of life”.
Mr Tatlow asked each doctor if they had made it clear to his wife how aggressive her cancer was. Each doctor said they were unable to confirm their exact words but were sure Ms Tatlow knew her cancer was aggressive.
Mr Tatlow said to one of the doctors “my recollection is entirely different”.
He also asked why none had referred his wife to her GP for depression during a time in which, he said, she was clearly struggling.
At the time of her death, Mrs Tatlow was waiting for two surgeries that were due to take place early in April.
The inquest, led by coroner Oliver Longstaff, is due to conclude tomorrow.
