Inquest hears Wallasey woman died from a blood clot while on holiday in Spain

Nov 23 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Wallasey News

A WALLASEY woman died from a blood clot while visiting her mother in Spain, an inquest heard.

Doctors initially thought Land Rover worker Sarah Graham, 31, was suffering from gastroenteritis but a scan later revealed the clot in her abdominal aorta.

Her condition deteriorated and she died in hospital in Malaga on October 17, 2007, just four days after arriving in the country.

Coroner’s officer Arthur Flower said: “She underwent an exploratory laparotomy but surgical treatment was deemed not to be a realistic possibility.”

Pathologist Martin Bancroft Gillett told the Wallasey Town Hall inquest it was “extremely unusual” for a blood clot to develop in a 31-year-old.

He said it was a “rare but possible phenomenon” and an additional risk factor would be smoking.

He told the hearing another factor could be the congenital Factor 5 deficiency, which means carriers have blood with an increased tendency to clot.

Coroner Christopher Johnson recorded a verdict that Miss Graham, of Birch Grove, died from natural causes.

Since her death her family have raised over £10,000 for a thrombosis charity in her memory.

Joined by staff and customers at their pub, the Pilot Boat in Wallasey, they also followed the lead of the film Calendar Girls by stripping for two tastefully-posed calendars.

Earlier this year her sister Victoria told the News the family were “blown away” by the support they had received.

The money has been donated to the charity Lifeblood, which campaigns for increased awareness and research into thrombosis.

Find out about Lifeblood at www.thrombosis-charity.org.uk