Morgan killed by pacemaker fault
A six-year-old girl died after her pacemaker failed because it had a broken wire, an inquest in Walsall was told.
A six-year-old girl died after her pacemaker failed because it had a broken wire, an inquest in Walsall was told.
Morgan Hope Smith, who was born with a defective heart, was pronounced dead on August 14 last year at Manor Hospital after collapsing at home.A consultant cardiologist yesterday described the wire between her heart and the machine as being "like spagetti", with tests showing it had failed four days earlier on August 10.
Dr Joseph De Giovanni from Birmingham Children's Hospital said the little girl "was managing on her heart alone for four days" in the run-up to her tragic death.
The youngster of Poplar Avenue, Bentley, suffered from Di George Syndrome, which caused her to have a heart defect at birth.
Pathologist at the children's hospital Dr Marion Brundler told yesterday's hearing Morgan was fitted with a pacemaker shortly after birth which was changed when she was three, but not the conductor lead. Dr Brundler said a post mortem revealed the wire was bent and broken.
She said: "I could not say for certain the fracture on its own could not have led to death." Morgan's father Craig told the hearing his daughter's health started to deteriorate in November 2006 after a period of reasonably good health.
Her family watched her become increasingly breathless and she was due to have open heart surgery in October last year. Mr Smith said his daughter had been happily playing on the day she died, and had gone for a lie down after eating a sandwich. His wife Rebecca made the discovery she had collapsed and Morgan was rushed to hospital.
Mr Smith told the hearing: "She was a very special girl and we gave her everything she wanted."
Dr Giovanni said he had since made recommendations for a new system for changing pacemaker leads possibly every three years.
Recording a narrative verdict, Black Country Coroner Mr Robin Balmain said: "The fact of the fracture was not known until after her death. Death was caused by combination of the fracture and severe underlying heart disease."
