Tribute to woman who choked on gum

THE sisters of a woman with multiple sclerosis who died after choking on a piece of chewing gum have described her as a “unique” woman who was “full of determination”.

Sulwen Hefina Jones, 55, from Cau Mur in Caernarfon, passed away on October 5 – 20 years to the day she received the devastating diagnosis.

Miss Jones, 55, was told she had the chronic disease affecting the central nervous system when she was just 35. Her sister, Nerys Wyn Jones, said it was only over the past four years that she began to deteriorate and struggle with her movement.

An inquest into her death heard how Miss Jones, who was the youngest of five sisters, frequently chewed gum as she suffered with dry mouth, a side-effect of her medication.

Paramedics who attended the scene said at the time they believed she had fallen asleep with chewing gum in her mouth.

On the morning of her death, Nerys Jones went in to see her sister at around 6:30am but found her unresponsive and “her lips were blue”.

Emergency services were called and Miss Jones’s partner was told to get Sulwen on to the floor to carry out CPR.

Paramedics arrived within 15 minutes but Mis Jones was pronounced deceased.

In a statement read out during the inquest, her sister described her as being “full of character”, who never let her diagnosis get the better of her.

“She was full of determination,” said Nerys of her sister. “Without a doubt this determination helped her through her life in the latter years.

“She was a very family-orientated person and we as siblings are privileged to have been able to call her our little sister.”

During the hearing Nerys Jones also described Sulwen as being “very brave” and told how she had always enjoyed playing football.

A postmortem examination by Mark Atkinson showed Miss Jones, a former medical records receptionist at Ysbyty Gwynedd, had chewing gum in various locations throughout her body, including her airways.

A provisional cause of death was given as aspiration of chewing gum due to multiple sclerosis

Concluding that Miss Jones’s death was accidental, assistant coroner for Noth West Wales Sarah Riley said: “Having visited the address, paramedics told officers that they believed that she had fallen asleep with chewing gum in her mouth. She was habitually chewing gum for her dry throat.

“I agree with pathologists in respect of the medical cause of death.

“Miss Jones’s death will be ruled as an accident due to the unexpected consequence of chewing gum.”