When Fiona Harrison last spoke to her mother at the Calvary Mater hospital, the 84-year-old cancer patient's health was so stable they were discussing moving her to an aged care facility.
Less than 24 hours later, she watched as her mother, Margaret Ledingham, died suddenly and in pain from what was later confirmed to be rapid onset pneumonia.
Ms Harrison is among the 120 families who have registered for the class action into alleged mould-related deaths at the Calvary Mater hospital, seeking answers and justice.
The families will meet, many for the first time, at Town Hall at 5pm on Friday for a public community briefing, in one of the final steps before the legal action is filed.
Ms Ledingham was diagnosed with stage four rectal carcinoma in October 2024, and was admitted to the Mater oncology ward the following month in November.
The 84-year-old never smoked, never drank, walked everywhere and up until the cancer diagnosis had never suffered a major medical incident. She wasn't responding to the treatment and the doctors couldn't explain why, her daughter said.
Although she was not getting better, she was also not declining. Due to her stable condition, the doctors discussed moving Ms Ledingham to an aged care facility on February 14, 2025.
That night, Ms Harrison received an urgent call, telling her to get to the hospital.
She watched as her mother struggled in pain before succumbing in the early hours of February 15.
"It was out of nowhere, I saw her that day ... she was a cancer patient, but she was not on death's door," Ms Harrison said.
"While everyone is fighting over who fixes the problems at the Mater, no one is putting any value on the individuals that have died suddenly and died suffering."
The family was told Ms Ledingham had suffered total organ failure. After reading the Newcastle Herald's coverage of the Mater mould scandal, the family re-examined the death certificate and found the primary cause of death was pneumonia.
The mould infesting air-conditioning vents in the hospital's cancer wards - Aspergillus fumigatus - is known to cause pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. A recent Bureau of Health Information study found the Calvary Mater had "higher than expected mortality" for pneumonia, despite a statewide decrease.
After grappling with the confronting and sudden death of her mother, Ms Harrison is now questioning if they took her to another hospital or got her into an aged care facility faster, "would she have had more time with her family?"
"It's layers of grief," Ms Harrison said.
"Our family was already struggling with the sudden passing, to revisit it with so many questions is deeply traumatising. You relive the grief all over again.
"There's lots of finger-pointing. But while everyone is fighting over who fixes the problems at the Mater, no one is putting any value on the individuals that have died suddenly and died suffering."
The deeply personal issue is made even more so, with members of the Harrison family directly involved in litigating the class action, which is being pursued by two law firms; XD Law and Bilbie Faraday Harrison.
XD Law principal Mark Davis said the stories of those involved in the class action were all strikingly similar, characterised by a sharp decline due to pneumonia, followed by a sudden death.
"They went into the Mater for a small improvement in their lives and suffered a devastating regression," Mr Davis said.
Although there were "multiple parties to litigate against", Mr Davis said the scope of the case - patients in the oncology ward between 2022 and 2025 who died of pneumonia - had been kept narrow to avoid "dragging on forever".
"We aren't representing thousands of people and asking for a squillion dollars, it's a niche group and the issue to arbitrate is fairly narrow - that is, proving the negligence of the providers," he said.
Hunter New England Health (HNEH) and NSW Health have been suggested as defendants. The company managing the hospital's public-private partnership, Novacare, and the hard services subcontractor Honeywell, could also be in the crosshairs.
Honeywell has previously stated it was not in a position to comment on any potential legal action, while Novacare has refused to answer any questions about the Mater.
It was recently revealed Novacare was considering entering voluntary administration, after the state government rejected its offer to take over the Mater contract for $2.
"The $2 offer was very generous of them, but we aren't going to let them slide away that easily," Mr Davis said.
"We see responsibility primarily sitting at the private end of the partnership, but ultimately it is a government issue as well."
When asked about the potential legal action, HNEH said it "will act as a model litigant and respond as required if we are notified or named in any action connected with this matter".
The Town Hall - which is open to any who things they have been affected by the Mater mould - meeting comes as the parliamentary inquiry investigating the mismanagement of the Calvary Mater announces a third hearing, set for June 11.
"The parliament inquiry and the evidence that has come from it is half the proving. There is a higher standard for the courtroom, but we think we are almost there in proving the case," Mr Davis said.
