A 20-YEAR-OLD woman who died of pneumonia had attended her local general practice the day before her death, complaining of feeling unwell.
Vicky Corr, of Kilmartin Avenue, Tallaght, was rushed by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital on the morning of July 1st, 2007, after her parents found her collapsed in her bedroom. She was pronounced dead an hour later.
An inquest into her death at Dublin County Coroner's Court yesterday heard Ms Corr was so ill on the morning of June 30th that her father, Thomas Corr, had to help her into the surgery, where she was seen by Dr Hugh Durkin.
Mr Corr said he told Dr Durkin Vicky was finding it hard to breathe and that he wanted to bring her to hospital. Dr Durkin, however, said that no one told him Ms Corr was breathless and said her major complaint was vomiting.
During his examination he listened to Vicky's chest and didn't find any evidence of respiratory distress. She never complained of any of the main symptoms of pneumonia: cough, pains in the chest or breathlessness, he said. He diagnosed her with an abdominal infection and prescribed her Motilium.
He did not recall Mr Corr saying he wanted to bring his daughter to hospital, but he did not dispute it.
Her mother, Maureen Corr, said Vicky had been sick for a number of weeks. She complained of breathlessness and palpitations and had been sent home from work on a number of occasions.
She said Vicky had attended another doctor at the practice, Dr Tom Field, on June 7th, three weeks before her death, and complained to him of breathlessness.
Dr Field said when Mrs Corr, who was at his surgery with a younger daughter on June 29th, indicated she was worried about Vicky, he told her she had one abnormal liver test and should attend the practice on Monday, July 2nd. She died on July 1st.
The blood tests revealed no raised white blood cell count, which he would have expected to see if there was pneumonia. A post-mortem showed Vicky died of community-acquired bronchial pneumonia and that she had developed a bacterial infection secondary to an underlying viral infection.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty recorded a verdict of natural causes and expressed condolences to the Corr family on their tragic loss.