Father-to-Be's Death on Morning of Partner's C-Section Was Preventable: Report

The death of a father-to-be on the day his partner was due to have her cesarean section could have been avoided, a court heard on Wednesday, June 5.

On June 7, 2023, Rebecca Moss, from the town of Stretford in Greater Manchester, England, told her partner Thomas Gibson, 40, "Wake up, it's baby day," at around 5:15 a.m. local time. However, a court heard on Tuesday, June 4, that he'd died after suffering a cardiac arrest while sleeping on the couch, PEOPLE previously reported. Moss gave birth to their daughter Harper later that day.

Gibson had attended Wythenshawe Hospital's Accident and Emergency department on May 27 with symptoms of a severe stomach bug that he'd had for around three weeks at that time.

After being assessed by medical staff he was told to return a week later if his symptoms didn't improve after Dr. Thomas Bull said an abnormality seen in his electrocardiogram (ECG) scan was likely to be something he described as an intraventricular block, Sky News previously reported.

An inquest at Stockport Coroner's Court has now heard that if the medical staff had instead fitted Gibson with a device such as a pacemaker, he may have lived, per Sky News, U.K. newspaper The Times, and the BBC.