Mystery as man dies suddenly from a ruptured spleen
HE WAS FOUND IN HIS BATHROOM
EXACTLY how a man ended up lying on his bathroom floor with a ruptured spleen may never be known.
Mark Garnett, 48, was discovered unresponsive by his dad at his home in Diadem Grove in east Hull on January 25. Despite paramedics managing to get a pulse, Mr Garnett died a short time later at Hull Royal Infirmary having never regained consciousness.
An inquest in Hull heard that Mr Garnett had an enlarged spleen, which meant it was not fully protected by the rib cage while chronic liver disease also made him more susceptible to internal bleeding.
Pathologist Dr Lazslo Karsai told the inquest that even a relatively minor bump may have been enough to rupture the spleen and said he could not rule out it rupturing “spontaneously” without any trauma at all.
But he said he could rule out any third-party involvement as there were no other signs of injury or bruising around the area of the spleen.
In a statement, Mr Garnett’s brother explained how the two had lived together for four years, but he admitted Mr Garnett had a troubled past due to addiction.
He said: “We were very close but around 15 years ago he started drinking heavily and also got involved with drugs. I was worried about his lifestyle. He was often getting assaulted and his life was very chaotic.
“But Mark moved in with me four years ago and he started to calm down. But he had mental health issues and was on quite a lot of medication. His health seemed to get worse and he was sick a lot.”
A couple of months before his death, Mark was treated for having several stomach ulcers, some of which burst.
Although Mr Garnett’s life was less chaotic at this point, he was still drinking and sometimes taking drugs.
On the day before Mr Garnett died, his brother explained how they were at home with their dad and a friend.
In his statement, his brother said: “Mark seemed normal and quite relaxed. Our friend left and Mark went to bed but later he went out and came back with two bottles of Lambrini. I told him that was not good for him, but I was not unduly worried.
“At 1pm the next day my dad woke me up and said he could not wake Mark up. I got up and went to the bathroom where mark was lying on the floor. We called for an ambulance and carried out CPR.”
Mr Garnett was rushed to Hull Royal Infirmary but he died a short time later.
His brother said he was not aware of any issue with Mr Garnett’s spleen: “I’m not aware of Mark injuring himself and he had not got into any fights for a long time. Everybody liked him.”
Area coroner Lorraine Harris accepted Dr Karsai’s finding that the cause of death was abdominal haemorrhaging due to a ruptured spleen, he also said the chronic liver disease and hepatitis C contributed.
But she decided she could only deliver a narrative conclusion as there was no evidence to say exactly how Mr Garnett’s ruptured spleen came about.
She said the rupture could have been due to some kind of minor trauma or it could have been spontaneous.
She said: “The pathologist did not know if the ruptured spleen was spontaneous or due to minor trauma.
“But he could rule out third-party involvement.
“I offer my sincere condolences to everyone who knew, loved and cared for Mr Garnett.”