Woman Whose Partner Died on Her C-Section Day Says 'Worst Nightmare' Was to Hear It Could Have Been Prevented

Rebecca Moss' partner Thomas Gibson died in his sleep at age 40 after suffering a cardiac arrest on June 7, 2023

• Rebecca Moss woke on the morning of her cesarean section on June 7, 2023, to find her partner, Thomas Gibson, had died after suffering a cardiac arrest in his sleep

• A court has since heard that his death might have been prevented if he was fitted with a device like a pacemaker

• "All anyone had to do was get someone to come and look at those ECGs. That's the heartbreaking bit, is that they didn't do that next step that could've saved his life," Moss tells PEOPLE

A woman from England is opening up about the moment she heard in court that her partner's death on the day of her cesarean section could have been prevented.

Greater Manchester resident Rebecca Moss told her partner Thomas Gibson, 40, "Wake up, it's baby day," at around 5:15 a.m. local time on June 7, 2023. However, he'd suffered a cardiac arrest while sleeping on the couch. Moss gave birth to their daughter Harper later that day.

On May 27, he went to Wythenshawe Hospital's Accident and Emergency department with symptoms of a severe stomach bug that he'd had for around three weeks. However, he was told to go away and come back in a week if the symptoms didn't get any better.

An inquest at Stockport Coroner's Court heard on June 4 and 5 that a doctor had misinterpreted Gibson's electrocardiogram (ECG) scan and that his death could have possibly been avoided if he had been fitted with a device such as a pacemaker.

PEOPLE reached out to Wythenshawe Hospital for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

While speaking to PEOPLE, Moss says of the moment she heard the news in court, "It was my worst nightmare."

Gibson's death had been ruled as a sudden cardiac death without a pending inquest at first before the hospital reopened the investigation a few months later, Moss says.

Commenting on the cardiology department being next door to where they were, Moss tells PEOPLE, "All anyone had to do was get someone to come and look at those ECGs. That's the heartbreaking bit, is that they didn't do that next step that could've saved his life," adding that there seemed to be a lack of "communication" within departments.

"They had to look me in the eye and say what they'd done, and that was a good thing for me to see and have them do," she says when talking about getting closure from the inquest.

"I was dreading it in the lead-up to it, but what I kept saying to my family was 'It's going to be a horrible couple of days, but this is the only way we're going to get answers.' The only way we're going to get closure, to some degree, of what actually happened," Moss, who first met Gibson on a dating site in 2016 before they ended up getting together through mutual friends, recalls.

"For me, that was really important to get that closure because that's the only way really I can now put that to bed," she adds. "I now know in my head what happened, or what rather didn't happen."

On the morning of June 7, 2023, Moss, who was heavily pregnant, performed CPR on her partner and tried to stay as calm as possible for herself and the baby's sake.

"I didn't feel like I was in the room, I felt like I was watching myself. It was just so surreal, and I just don't know how I kept my cool. I just knew I had to keep calm... You just kind of go into survival mode," she notes.

Moss says she was given the option to not have the planned C-section on that day, but thought, "I just need her here now, because I can't worry anymore."

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"I don't think it'll ever really truly sink in that one minute he was here, and one minute he's not. That morning, I don't know how I kept as calm as I did when I came downstairs and found him. I just kind of went into this place of like 'Right, what do I need to do? How can I make this situation better?' " she says of finding Gibson on the couch.

Moss' daughter recently celebrated her first birthday, and she recalls it was a "bittersweet" occasion. However, she's determined to make the day about her in the years to come. "It's her birthday, it's the only one she's got, it's the day to celebrate her. We decided we'll think about Tom on his birthday, which is in April, rather than on the same day. Her birthday should be a happy time, and something for her to celebrate," Moss shares.

Moss is now focusing on doing what's best for their daughter, but says that Gibson's presence will always be felt around the house. Furthermore, she's trying to "normalize" him not being there for Harper's sake. "He was just so excited and obviously he never got to meet her," she says.

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