His dad suddenly took unwell and collapsed while shopping at Costco in Springburn.
Anthony was unable to stand; had vomited; his eyes were struggling to focus; and his speech was slow.
Despite the staff dialling 999 and describing his symptoms over the phone, a posterior circulation stroke wasn’t picked up because the standard FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) method of stroke detection failed to identify that Anthony was suffering from a stroke.
An ambulance was not dispatched because a heart attack and stroke were ruled out.
This failure set in motion a deadly delay.
Anthony’s condition didn’t improve, so another 999 call was made, and an ambulance was finally sent out.
Despite this, Anthony was assessed to be ‘FAST-negative’ and categorised as ‘Urgent but Stable’ rather than receiving an ‘AMBER’ emergency response that would have bypassed triage and taken him straight to resuscitation.
The ambulance rushed Anthony to the nearest A&E at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, where he was triaged but, yet again, his symptoms did not flag that he had suffered a stroke due to the limitations of the FAST test.
After hours of uncertainty about what was causing Anthony’s illness, FAST symptoms finally emerged, identifying the stroke, and the clinicians finally began treatment.
The first course of stroke treatment is thrombolysis, a blood clot-dissolving injection.
It is most effective if delivered within four hours.
Devastatingly, Glasgow Royal Infirmary only offers a thrombolysis service during weekdays.
It was a Sunday, so he had to be blue lighted across the city to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for the thrombolysis injection.
If a thrombolysis doesn’t work, the alternative procedure is a mechanical thrombectomy to pull the blood clot out, an operation which is most effective if done within six hours.
However, this is only available between 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday, in Glasgow, with nowhere in Scotland offering it on a 24/7 basis.
I am sure you will be as shocked as I was to realise that access to this time-sensitive, life-saving surgery for a stroke is purely down to the chance of where and when you suffer it.
Staggeringly, it took 17 hours for Anthony to finally receive thrombectomy surgery from the point he first had his stroke in Costco.
While the thrombectomy was technically successful, the level of brain damage caused during the delay meant that Anthony Bundy sadly died soon afterwards.
A review was launched by the health board and found that missed symptoms resulted in a delay in receiving the right treatment, and delays in accessing a thrombectomy because of the 9-5 service contributed to Anthony Bundy’s untimely and preventable death.
This tragic case surely drives home the need to provide a 24/7 mechanical thrombectomy service across Glasgow and Scotland – this is the human cost of the SNP’s failure to deliver a life-saving treatment.
No family should have to suffer like the Bundy family has.
However, they are determined to turn this tragedy into a positive change.
Since his father’s passing, James has been campaigning to improve stroke care in Scotland.
One in five strokes is missed by the FAST method, with the majority being these harder-to-spot posterior strokes.
The review was unambiguous: the failure to identify these subtle signs caused Anthony’s death.
There is a better way: the BE FAST approach to stroke detection includes sudden loss of balance and vision problems, which are common symptoms for someone who has suffered a posterior circulation stroke.
James Bundy’s campaign has successfully persuaded Forth Valley Health Board to adopt the BE FAST tool.
It is time for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde to follow Forth Valley’s lead so that we can ensure better stroke detection in our city too.
It is also essential that life-saving mechanical thrombectomy is available 24/7.
If it had been, then I am sure that Anthony Bundy would still be alive today.
His tragic death must surely be a turning point for stroke care in Glasgow and across Scotland.
