Two ambulance staff accessed the medical records of William Chapman, the 24-year-old former child actor fatally mauled by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, without any legitimate reason to do so, the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust has admitted.
Chapman died on Oct. 10 after scaling a fence and entering the enclosure of Altai, a 420-pound Siberian tiger. He had shared a video of himself approaching the animal on Instagram shortly before the attack. His cause of death was recorded as multiple traumatic injuries and animal interaction.
The Yorkshire Ambulance Trust, part of the National Health Service, confirmed there were “two instances” in which Chapman’s medical information was accessed without proper cause, officials told health trade publication HSJ, as reported by The Guardian. The trust launched an internal probe into the two staffers who had responded to emergency calls at the park.
The breach happened shortly after word spread that Chapman had been attacked by the tiger. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office was notified, and the ambulance trust informed Chapman’s family that an investigation was underway.
A full investigation into the matter is expected to take place in March, according to Sky News.
Chapman’s family has said he had a history of mental illness, including a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and had been under psychiatric supervision. Relatives said he suffered from severe mental health issues and was on heavy medication at the time of the attack.
Eyewitnesses at the park said Chapman had been seen pacing with his headphones in and dancing happily before the mauling, and had asked other visitors to photograph him with the tiger in the background.
This is not the first time NHS staff have been caught improperly viewing patient files tied to a high-profile animal attack. In June, dozens of staff improperly accessed the records of a boy who had been attacked by an alligator at a zoo, Sky News reported.
