A GRIEVING Chester businessman whose daughter died after she was misdiagnosed with swine flu has set up a foundation in her memory.

Karl Hartey, 42, owner of Chester Business Park-based investment company Applewood Wealth Management, is campaigning for a change from telephone diagnosis for swine flu to make sure other families don’t suffer the same tragedy.

His daughter Charlotte was 16 when she died at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on July 31 after her GP wrongly diagnosed her tonsillitis.

Karl, who is married to Helen, 43, and has a son Tristan, 19, said: “In the beginning we thought Charlotte’s case was a one-off but we started to find others.

““Altogether 12 children have died since the middle of July. There are older people too. You just can’t believe it’s happened more than once.

“With Charlotte we phoned up the doctors when she wasn’t feeling well, they said ‘does she feel like this and that? It’s swine flu go and get some Tamiflu.’

“It was lazy doctoring, forgetting what it’s about, not even looking at somebody, listening to their chest or looking at their throat.

“They couldn’t be bothered to do any of it and presumed it was swine flu.

“Two days later she was still no better and they sent another doctor, they concurred with their colleague that she was displaying typical symptoms.”

Charlotte’s condition worsened and she was admitted to hospital on July 29 – she died two days later.

“Charlotte enjoyed her very short life,” added Karl, of Oswestry.

“The first four days we just sat in shock, it was like in an old folks home where you see people sat there staring into space and not saying anything. We were just looking out of the window and never really communicated, a silent shock.

“The next week was trying to sort out the post-mortem examination, then the funeral, then we went to Greece to speak to family there. It’s been very tough.

“Waking up to that fact, it hits you hard, so you have to find something else. Channel your anger into something which will be heard to raise awareness.

“You could drive yourself mad, my view was rather than get angry I would channel the anger to something which would have some good come out of it,” said Karl.

“That’s where the idea of the petition came from. From there we had the YouTube video. We’ve had 1,000 hits on the video, we’ve got about 5,000 members of the Facebook group, and about 5,000 names in the written petition. So it’s moving in the right direction.”

The family then created the foundation and a website with links to the social networking site Facebook and news stories.

“Days later twin four-year-old boys were diagnosed with swine flu,” said Karl.

“After the mother saw our story she went back to the doctors and they were diagnosed with tonsillitis. If they hadn’t have been they could have died, so if nothing else happens we can turn around and say there’s two little boys alive because Charlotte went through what she did – some good has come from it.

“I do a lot of charity work, climbing Kilimanjaro and things like that, so anything I do will be directed ........................to Charlotte’s cause.

“We hope to raise between £25,000 and £50,000 in the next 12 months which will go to local charities.”

To help raise more money wristbands, similar to those made famous by Lance Armstrong’s Foundation, are being sold.

“You buy holidays and insurance over the phone, you don’t get diagnosed for illnesses,” added Karl.

“You can’t measure the lives that have been saved by the system, but if you don’t have swine flu and if you are treated wrongly, it becomes a killer. One life is one too many.”