A-level girl is killed by an asthma attack after running to catch tram
A PRIVATELY- educated A-level pupil died of a severe asthma attack after running for a tram.
Lucy Goldstone, who was due to achieve straight As in her exams, was on her way home from a night out when the tragedy happened.
She had dashed up three flights of steps and managed to get on board just before the tram pulled away.
But the 18-year-old then collapsed in her seat fighting for breath.
She suffered a cardiac arrest and died despite efforts from her friends, passengers and paramedics to save her. Pathologist Dr Emyr Benbow, who carried out a post- mortem examination, told an inquest: ‘This was a very rapid onset of asthma – the most severe attack I have seen in 20-plus years.’
Coroner Fiona Borrill said she will be recommending to the Department of Health that defibrillators be installed on public transport to save future heart attack victims, although she heard Lucy’s condition was probably too severe for one of the devices to have saved her.
Lucy’s family have begun a campaign – ‘Restart a Heart for Lucy’ – to have defibrillators installed on all public transport.
The device sends an electric shock to restart the heart
Her father James Goldstone, 39, a fund manager from Sale, Manchester, said: ‘We will never know whether a defibrillator would have made a difference for Lucy had it been installed on the tram on which she died.
‘But without one her chances of surviving a cardiac arrest were negligible.’
Lucy, described by her family as ‘bright, funny and kind’, was a pupil at the independent Withington Girls’ School in Manchester, where fees are £12,384 per year.
Mr Goldstone said she was a ‘talented linguist’ who was predicted to get three A grades. She planned to study French and Spanish at university.
The Manchester inquest was told Lucy had suffered with mild asthma since the age of ten but had always managed to keep her condition under control using prescribed inhalers. She had also been prescribed the antihistamine Atarax after complaining about exam anxiety.
The tragedy happened last April after the teenager and her friends had been to the Courtyard Bar in Manchester. They left about 10.15pm to catch a tram home from Deansgate.
Lucy’s best friend Hannah Gorlizkey, 18, said: ‘She seemed really well but I remember her saying she had taken eight antihistamines that morning which I thought was a bit strange.
‘We saw the tram and began to run up the stairs. I could tell that Lucy was out of breath so I told her that I would run ahead and stop the tram doors.
‘At that point she did not appear to be having any difficulty breathing. She sat down next to me. Then her head fell back and she collapsed. I got her inhaler out of her pocket. Her lips began to go blue and her face went cold.’ Lucy was pro- nounced dead at Manchester Royal Infirmary. Dr Kirstin Ballantyne, from the hospital, said it was unlikely a defibrillator would have saved her because of the severity of her attack.
‘When we got to her, her heart rhythm was not shockable and there is no way of knowing whether Lucy would have ever been in a stage where her rhythm was shockable,’ she added.
Lucy’s GP, Dr Richard Clare, said a review in May 2015 showed her asthma was at a normal level. The coroner gave a narrative conclusion, adding: ‘In Lucy’s case the absence of a defibrillator has not been proven to make a difference but it may do with other people.’
‘Most severe attack I have seen in 20 years’