Game of ‘fetch’ ends in tragedy for Hipperholme dog owner

Nov 5 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

In a statement, Mrs Sewell said the bite went through to the bone of her husband’s finger, but he did not wash it or put a plaster on it straight away.

She added: “He wasn’t concerned about it and only put one on some time later.”

She said they continued to enjoy the holiday until May 29 when Mr Sewell complained of feeling cold and shivery.

That night he became hot and had a restless night’s sleep with some “strange dreams”.

The family made the 300-mile journey home the following day. By the time they got back, Mr Sewell had started suffering from diarrhoea. Later his feet started tingling and he lost sensation in his fingers.

Mrs Sewell and their son took him to accident and emergency at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax. He was transferred to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary’s intensive care unit when his condition worsened.

Mrs Sewell was called by HRI in the early hours of May 31. Her husband died a short time later.

He had encephalitis, an acute inflammation of the brain, brought on by septicaemia when the wound got infected.

Coroner Roger Whittaker, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, called it “almost a fluke situation.”

Paying tribute to her husband, Mrs Sewell said: “He was very caring, he would give everything away. He was so kind.”