Woman died after falling while running for bus, inquest heard

Caroline Mharakurwa, aged 46, from Chester Street, slipped in Wolverhampton Bus Station fracturing her right thigh bone.

She was taken to A&E at New Cross Hospital.

She later signed a consent form to be operated on, but didn't disclose that she had ischaemic heart disease and suffered a cardiac arrest, on October 31 two days after the fall on October 29.

The family of Ms Mharakurwa insisted that more detail should have been received from her usual consultant at Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley, prior to the operation.

But New Cross consultants said that it needed to be done 'sooner rather than later' with the fracture being 'severe'.

Assistant coroner Angus Smiley gave a conclusion of accidental death after the fall.

The hearing was told Ms Mharakurwa already had several underlying health conditions including kidney disease, end stage renal failure and type two diabetes.

She was given morphine in A&E for the pain, but the on-duty doctor felt she was not in 'the right frame of mind' to sign the operation consent form at that time, the court heard.

She did sign it later that night once another doctor assessed that she was 'capable' of making that decision.

Consultant Dave Simpson, said: "If we had thought that there was no way the lady would have survived surgery we would have stopped and assessed it but the operation was in her best interest."

An ECG conducted before the operation flagged up no causes for concern. Doctors said if the operation had not taken place she would have been bed-bound for three months which could have led to further infection. But Ms Mharakurwa's daughter, Zee, said: "If the operation was not done then she was going to be bed bound but it would have been better than for her to die."

The cause of death given was acute ventricular failure, due to ischaemic heart disease and a fracture of the femur.

Mr Smiley, said: "I am satisfied that the procedures followed were appropriate and the risk was analysed as necessary."