A WIDOW whose husband suffered a fatal heart attack following routine surgery on his knee has won £175,000 in damages against St Albans City Hospital.

Mr Anthony Starcevic, 37, suffered a series of catastrophic heart attacks after an initial blood clot reached his lung during surgery at the hospital in September 1993, London's Appeal Court heard on Thursday last week.

He was rushed by ambulance to Hemel Hempstead Hospital for emergency treatment after his seizure but died soon afterwards.

Left to grieve were his wife, Denise Starcevic, 40, and the couple's two children, Andrew, 13, and Rebecca, nine.

Mrs Starcevic, of Norfolk Road, Luton, sued West Herts Health Authority, claiming a failure to spot signs of a developing deep vein thrombosis had led to her husband's death.

In October 1999 High Court judge Mr Justice Ian Kennedy, rejected her claim, commenting he was "not persuaded there was indeed any sign or symptom of a deep vein thrombosis which ought to have been detected by the clinicians".

That ruling was overturned on Thursday by Lord Justice Mantell, sitting with Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss and Lady Justice Hale, and the health authority was ordered to pay the widow damages of £175,000, as well as legal costs.

After the hearing, Mrs Starcevic said: "I'm just glad it's all over. Justice has been done after seven and a half years; we got there in the end. I am going home now to see my kids that's it."

Mr Starcevic suffered a locked knee while working on his car earlier in September 1993. The leg was put in plaster, but surgery was recommended after the cast was removed.

Surgery in the form of an intensive knee examination was carried out at St Albans City Hospital on September 25, and it was during this operation that a massive pulmonary embolism developed.

Mrs Starcevic's appeal centred on claims that her husband had told a hospital physiotherapist about pain and swelling in his calf prior to the operation information that should have been passed on to the clinicians before surgery.

Her counsel, Mr Paul Randolph, claimed the trial judge "failed to make a specific finding" on whether or not the physiotherapist was told by Mr Starcevic, a failure that fundamentally undermined his ruling.