Katrina Ward was the paediatric consultant who diagnosed Oliver Battersby's terminal mitochondrial condition.
Oliver had first shown signs of the condition when he suffered a fit and fell unconscious. Dr Gaddas diagnosed a febrile convulsion and showed few concerns that it could be anything more but his mother Leanne was troubled by a remark from his key worker that he wasn’t developing physically at the same rate as the other children. When a few days later he suffered a further fit, paramedics were called and took him into Weatherfield General where Doctor Shardlow examined him and ordered an EEG and blood tests. The case was referred upwards to Dr Ward who spoke to the boy’s families and assured them they would get to the bottom of the matter.
She rejected the hypothesis of a febrile convulsion as the child’s temperature was normal, but she didn’t rule out Nick Tilsley’s suggestion of epilepsy while tests were still being conducted. Oliver was released pending the results although Dr Ward did hint to hospital nurse Aggie Bailey that her concerns about the boy were greater than she was letting on.
Oliver suffered another fit just one day later and was again rushed in where a course of drugs failed to stop the attack and he was taken into intensive care, again under the watchful eye of Dr Ward. She managed to stop the seizures and heavily sedated the child before taking him for a full MRI scan. This showed changes to the occipital lobe at the back of his brain and genetic blood tests were made to find the cause. Although not initially conclusive, these indicated a possible underlying genetic condition named mitochondrial disease, thoroughly alarming Leanne and father Steve McDonald when they were told that mitochondria were, in simple terms, needed for the energy to sustain life and support organ function.
Full diagnosis was slow and Steve demanded faster action from Dr Ward, having suspicions that important information was being withheld from them. As the tests were continued, Dr Ward slowly reduced Oliver’s sedation with no immediate signs that his fits were returning however the boy caused alarm by remaining in a catatonic state and being unresponsive to people’s voices. Dr Ward tried to calm people’s nerves by suggesting that this could be a normal reaction but nevertheless she ordered further tests. These indicated possible brain damage caused by the prolonged seizure, but a definite answer wasn’t possible at that stage, something which Leanne latched on to as a lifeline of hope.
Some good news was forthcoming when Oliver responded well to his anti-seizure medicine administered to him over the weekend and he was allowed home. However things took a drastic turn when the full and final results came back which showed that Oliver’s condition was definitely mitochondrial disease which was both life-limiting and irreversible with no idea as to how long the child had. Leanne refused to accept the diagnosis and angrily demanded a second opinion, which only confirmed the same. A few months later, when Oliver was on a life support machine, and in bitter conflict with Dr Howarth over switching that lifeline off, Leanne voiced the opinion that she far preferred dealing with the much more sympathetic Dr Ward.
- Credited as "Dr Ward", the character's first name was given in dialogue in her first appearance.
List of appearances[]
2020