19st disabled woman ate herself to death after carers left her fridge unlocked
A WOMAN with a rare genetic condition that made her constantly hungry ate herself to death after care home staff removed special locks on her fridge and cupboards, an inquest has heard.
Morbidly obese Kirsty Derry, 23, suffered from Prader-Willi syndrome, which causes sufferers to experience constant feelings of hunger and can lead to dangerous weight gain.
Miss Derry, from Heath Hayes, Staffordshire, who was 4ft 8in tall, died from heart failure when her weight reached 19st – after piling on seven stone in nine months after moving into an assisted living care home.
But an inquest heard that Miss Derry was allowed to gorge on chocolate and ice-cream after she convinced staff to remove special locks on her cupboards. She died a month after her mother Julie Fallows had written to the care home saying she feared for her daughter’s life.
Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Fallows, 50, said: ‘Kirsty was diagnosed with Prader-Willi when she was two. I tried my best to control her eating, but she was always ravenous and tried everything to get her hands on food. Before Kirsty went into supported living, I had a fridge and freezer in a pantry with a locked door.
‘Kirsty decided she wanted to live independently, she was a grown up and I wasn’t in a position to stop her. I wanted her to be happy and have what she wanted.’
Miss Derry’s weight ballooned from 12 and a half stone when she went into supported living accommodation at Victoria Mews in Stone, Staffordshire in October 2012, to 19st in just nine months, before she died in July 2013. Mrs Fallows told the inquest her daughter was supposed to have one-to- one support from care workers at Victoria Mews from 8am until 10pm daily, but often this was not the case.
Miss Derry’s bungalow was also fitted with ‘assisted technology’, which meant if she tried to open her fridge or food cupboards alarms would alert staff, but this was removed seven months before she died. That was ‘the beginning of the end’, her mother said. Mrs Fallows added: ‘I spoke to her every day and I used to go over once or twice a week.
‘The more I went the more I would notice that support workers weren’t with her. Sometimes staff were nowhere to be found.
‘When she asked them to remove the assisted technology they just did it without consulting me. I know she was an adult but she needed that support. She would wait for agency staff to take her food shopping, rather than her carers, so she could buy what she wanted – chocolate, fizzy drinks.
‘Not only did she have PraderWilli, but she was also diabetic. When she was younger I’d load up her plate with loads of vegetables or salad – that way it still seemed like a big meal to her. As soon as she moved into supported living her diet went down the drain and her blood sugar went through the roof.’
Social workers told the inquest there was nothing they could do because Miss Derry had the mental capacity to make her own decisions. But Mrs Fallows became increasingly worried, and the court heard she sent an email to Staffordshire County Council on June 20, 2013, exactly one month before Miss Derry’s death, saying: ‘You, in effect, by placing Kirsty at Victoria Mews, have handed her a death sentence.’
Mrs Fallows, who also has a son Matthew, 18, said: ‘How can someone be deemed mentally capable when the choices they make are killing them?’
In a further blow, the family were told the news of Miss Derry’s death over the phone – her father Gary Derry, 48, received a phone call from Victoria Mews, and then had to tell Mrs Fallows.
She said: ‘She was fine the day before she died, she was so happy as usual – it came as such a shock. She was always smiling, she was very trusting and would make friends with anyone. ‘It was absolutely devastating.’ Mrs Fallows, who now works for Affinity Trust, helping adults with special needs, said she is planning on seeking legal advice.
South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh recorded Miss Derry died of a natural condition that was not effectively addressed. He added: ‘Hopefully appropriate lessons have been learned.’
‘She needed that support’