Depressed woman choked on dinner

Sep 17 2008 by David Rutland, Rhyl Visitor

Depressed woman choked on dinner

A SEVERELY depressed woman died five days after choking on her dinner in a St Asaph private hospital.

Gillian Margaret Armstrong was being cared for in the Plas Coch Independent Hospital, St Asaph, when the incident happened in March.

An inquest held at Prestatyn Coroner’s court last week heard how Mrs Armstrong quickly shovelled food into her mouth and then passed out with her teeth clenched shut.

Health care support worker Tamla Town said: “She complained that the chicken was too hard, but continued eating it and requested pudding.

“She was choking but she continued to put more food into her mouth. She was encouraged to spit it out but she couldn’t.

“I called 999, her skin had turned blue and she was convulsing.”

Mrs Armstrong was rushed to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan, where she died on March 31.

The mother-of-two blamed herself for the drugs-related death of her son Christian, and longed for her other son to return from Saudi Arabia.

She had severe depression with psychotic features and could become anxious and aggressive. She often expressed suicidal thoughts.

Staff member Catherine Cliff said: “She blamed herself for her son’s demise and was unresponsive and withdrawn. She refused to go every day to each meal and had lost interest in life completely. She had no pleasure in her life and food was the last thing on her mind.

“She was so tortured and distressed about her son and had given up.

“Getting her to eat was a problem with every meal.”

Pathologist Dr Craig Platt reported that Mrs Armstrong had breathed food into her lungs and that she had suffered brain damage as a result of oxygen starvation.

She also showed signs of early multiple sclerosis and tested positive for MRSA – probably acquired before she arrived at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

Coroner Kirit Champaneria recorded a verdict of accidental death caused by aspiration pneumonia and aspiration of food.

“I find that this was a lady who had a number of difficulties, not least of which were her lapses into significant depressions,” said Mr Champaneria.

“It is inescapable that Gillian Armstrong had clearly not got over the death of her son.

“If you are in a depressive state, it can become very difficult to fight your way out of it and I think that this was a genuine accident.”