‘Healthy’ woman died of rare heart condition aged 32
DEATH HAPPENED JUST HOURS AFTER BEING RUSHED TO A&E DEPARTMENT
A FAMILY has been left devastated after a seemingly healthy woman died at just 32 of a rare heart disease.
West London Coroner’s Court heard how Channelle PinnockGrant was rushed to Ealing Hospital after an ambulance was called to her flat in Rufford Tower, Acton, on February 8, 2020.
Paramedics ran a heart scan before taking her to A&E, where she was breathless and had pain all over, as well as a burning feeling in her chest and dizziness.
Over the course of the evening, her condition deteriorated and her family watched on in horror as her pain got worse as she struggled to breathe.
Within hours of being admitted to hospital, she was diagnosed with suspected viral myocarditis – a rare disease characterised by inflammation of the heart muscle.
More common in much older people, it seriously limits the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body, and in Channelle’s case, “the worst type” of the disease, it proved fatal.
She became so unwell so quickly that she was unable to be transferred to nearby hospitals in Hammersmith, where more serious cardiac patients are treated, or Harefield, where there is a specialist team dedicated to the condition.
In the early hours of February 9, she went into cardiac arrest and medical teams tried to provide lifesaving treatment.
Despite their efforts, she died at around 3am.
Family members said that in the days leading up to Channelle’s death, she felt under the weather but believed that it was just a common cold.
A statement read out in court on behalf of the family said: “She was able to have breakfast of scrambled eggs and spinach – but she was unable to have a bath and was feeling weak.
“She wasn’t much of a party girl but she loved the outdoors. She was successful at work, having recently secured a promotion.
“She was planning a holiday for her 33rd birthday and was becoming more and more conscious about her diet and general wellbeing - she was also attempting a pescatarian diet.
“Channelle was a loving daughter, sister, grandchild, niece, cousin and friend.”
She is survived by her mum, sisters Cleopatra and Chrisma and countless other family members who loved her dearly and valued her “kind-spirited nature”.
Despite Channelle’s death occurring nearly two years ago – before the coronavirus pandemic began – the family, who they say have been left “restless with grief ”, have only this week received answers and some form of closure.
Representing the family, lawyer Melanie Sharp asked medical experts questions about Channelle’s care – and asked whether she should have been taken straight to Hammersmith or Harefield heart hospital.
Dr Gillian Park, an emergency medicine consultant at Northwick Park Hospital, said that it appears Channelle suffered from the “worst type of viral myocarditis” and that it is unusual to deteriorate so rapidly.
However, she added that “there was no evidence to suggest that she needed a blue-light transfer to another hospital” upon her arrival to Ealing Hospital.
Dr Robert Huddleston, one of the doctors in charge of Channelle’s care in the resuscitation ward, originally gave her paracetemol and other pain relief medication to try to help her, but as she complained of worsening pain he gave her 10mg of liquid morphine.
This was followed an hour or so later by another 10mg dose. By this time her condition was starting to deteriorate, so Dr Huddleston attempted to contact a consultant at nearby Hammersmith Hospital.
It was a busy Saturday night and he struggled to get in touch with anyone for over an hour.
She later went into cardiac arrest and medical teams were unable to save her.
Pathologist Dr Alan Bates conducted a post-mortem examination after Channelle died, and gave her medical cause of death as one of viral myocarditis, while a toxicologist found levels of codeine and morphine inconsistent with what she had been prescribed in hospital.
However, these discrepancies were ruled to not have likely caused or contributed towards her death.
Recording a conclusion of “death by natural causes”, West London’s acting senior coroner Lydia Brown told the court: “The family had to watch the deterioration of a loved one on what must have been such a desperate night in hospital.
“Having lost someone at such a young age, I am sure that no one would want to take a single step in your shoes.
“I have reached a conclusion that in Miss Pinnock Grant’s case, this was a disease process that ran its full course, so I will record this death as one of natural causes.”
She offered her condolences to the family present in court, including Channelle’s mother and two sisters.