A COUPLE whose son died in his sleep at 16 say they will take legal action against Glasgow’s health board if it emerges that his death could have been prevented.

Owen Britton, a “caring," athletic and academically gifted teenager who planned to go to Cambridge University, is thought to have suffered a nocturnal epileptic seizure.

Linda, 48 and her husband David, 58, believe they should have been warned about the risks following a previous episode.

A year before, almost to the exact date, Owen was rushed to hospital after his parents were unable to wake him.

The couple say a specialist in Glasgow ruled out a seizure, following tests, and told them to come back if he suffered another.

Almost a year later, to the date, on January 28, 2016, Linda found her son dead after going to wake him for school. His death was recorded as “unascertained.”

However it is thought, and the couple are certain, that he suffered a Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) which, according to the Epilepsy Society, can be preventable.

The couple are waiting for the outcome of an investigation by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Linda said: “Owen went to bed one night and he was gone in the morning.

“It is one of the greatest frustrations that the consultant did not mention the risk when Owen had his previous seizure.

“Had we known, the death could have been avoided.

“We were only told after his death that if seizures go on undetected or you are not medicated, you have a 1 in 150 chance of survival.”

Owen was top of his year at Balfron High School and an accomplished runner and athlete and had swum 100 lengths the night before he died.

Linda said: “I went to his room to get him up for school and he was gone. "And he had been gone for hours.

“A year previously he had a seizure in the morning and we heard a noise in the room. We went in and we couldn’t wake him.The ambulance came and took him to hospital.

“We saw a consultant in Glasgow and he said it could be stress as Owen was in the middle of prelims.

“He essentially said it was probably not a seizure and I said to him,'it’s definitely a seizure.'

“I studied physical therapy and you have to learn about all the different seizures and I’ve witnessed many seizures.

“After he died it was pretty much accepted that he had suffered a seizure.

“He said we will get the tests done and nothing showed up, which is apparently quite typical.

“We asked the consultant, is there anything we can do to prevent this coming back and the doctor had said come back if he suffers another seizure, not if he has symptoms.

“The reality is that he was probably suffering multiple seizures.

“We are now trying to campaign for a policy change. The guidelines state that you have to have suffered more than one seizure for a diagnosis.

“We were told that doctors often don’t tell parents about the risk because they don’t want to stress them. The reality is people are dying. And they need to be told the facts because it’s preventable. Not in every case but it is.

“So many more lives could be saved. There are monitors you can wear. If you can wake the person up then they are less likely to die.

“We were never given any of those facts and our son died”

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Linda, who also has a daughter, Isla, 14, has described the past two years as “absolute hell.”

She said: “You hear stories on the radio and you think, if that happened to me I would die.

“There are times when I think, I can’t go on. It comes in waves. The waves come at you and you think, I can’t cope with that.

“Through time the waves get smaller but they don’t go away. They will never go away.”

Owen’s father, David, said; “At the moment we are still trying to establish whether Owen was failed by an NHS policy that needs changing or by the actions of an individual consultant, but we are convinced that it is one or the other, or both.

“Ultimately, if we believe there was also some fault on the consultant’s side (and we currently do, but are awaiting the outcome of the review), then we would consider all appropriate action, including legal action, to ensure that other children are not put at risk.”

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Meanwhile, Linda is preparing for a gruelling Iron Man Challenge in eight days time in Dubai, on the anniversary of Owen’s death, to raise funds for a study looking at the prevalence of SUDEP across the UK.

She said: “Every day when I think, I can’t go on, I think of him. I know I will finish it.

“We can’t bring Owen back but if we can save one life..We don’t want another family to go through this.”

A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with Owen’s family at this extremely difficult time.

“Our staff followed national guidelines when treating this patient.

“This was explained to the family at a meeting with some of our clinical and managerial staff, however, we have listened to the family’s concerns and are fully considering the issues they have raised. “The outcome of this will be shared with the family directly.”

To make a donation to the OwenBritton Tribute Fund and make a donation: https://owen-britton.muchloved.com/

For more information about SUDEP go to https://sudep.org/