12-year-old boy’s death is a mystery

THE cause behind the sudden death of a 12-year-old boy diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition remains unknown, an inquest has heard.

Matthew Knowles, of Trebanog, Rhondda Cynon Taf, died on December 12 last year at the home he shared with his father and brother.

In 2015, the Porth County Community School pupil was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis – a rare condition which affects the nerves and muscles, usually seen in men over 60 and adult women.

The condition affects only 15 in every 10,000 people in the UK.

An inquest at Aberdare Coroners’ Court yesterday heard that in October 2015 Matthew suffered a cardiac arrest and spent time in the intensive care unit at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.

Over the next year, he made gradual improvements and was put on a course of antibiotics and steroids. He was also able to return to school and went on holiday to Florida with the charity organisation Dream Flights.

But after his return from America, Matthew’s dad Lyndon Knowles noticed a change in his son and his condition began to deteriorate drastically in December.

In a statement to the court, Mr Knowles described the day of Matthew’s death.

He said: “At 5am I was woken by Matthew who said he didn’t feel well. He said he felt weak and his arms and legs were aching. He walked downstairs unassisted and sat on the sofa watching television. He said he felt sick and vomited into a bowl. At around 6am, I gave Matthew a bowl of Shreddies because he needed food before he took his medication and I sat opposite to supervise him.

“He had one spoonful of Shreddies and tried to take his tablets. He then put his head on the dining room table.

“In five minutes, I told Matthew’s brother to give him a nudge, but his brother said he didn’t look right and his lips were blue. He wasn’t breathing.

“I phoned an ambulance and did chest compressions but he didn’t respond and he didn’t breathe. He was immediately taken to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital but shortly after arriving there I was told nothing more could be done for him and he was gone.

“It has left us all very shocked and upset, we knew about his condition but we never considered this would happen to him. We miss him every day.”

Following Matthew’s death, a post mortem examination was carried out. No significant injuries were found.

Giving evidence in court, pathologist Dr Andrew Bamber said there were subtle findings which were not normal, but these were unlikely to cause the death of a 12-year-old boy.

He said it was possible that Matthew’s death could have been caused by an “abnormal heart rhythm” but he was unable to confirm this.

An official cause of death was given as “medically unascertained”.

In his conclusion, senior coroner Andrew Barkley said: “(Matthew) died from a natural event, there is no evidence to suggest anything other than that”.

Mr Barkley recorded a conclusion of unascertained death due to natural causes.