‘Dream daughter’, 17, was found dead in her bed by her mother after sepsis, inquest hears 

Girl, 17, was found dead in her bed by her mother after suffering from sepsis that she had thought was just food poisoning, inquest hears

  • Tina Way, 17, was found dead at her home in Cardiff, Wales on July 20 last year
  • In the days before she died Ms Way had been on holiday at a Welsh holiday park 
  • An inquest has now heard she developed sepsis after E. Coli entered her blood 

A ‘dream daughter’ was found dead in her bed by her mother after suffering from sepsis that she initially thought was food poisoning, an inquest has heard.

Schoolgirl Tina Way, 17, had been on holiday with her friend’s family last summer at Carmarthen Bay Holiday Park in Wales where she became ill and began vomiting.

The teenager, a student at Cardiff West Community High School, initially believed she was suffering with food poisoning after eating a steak and ale pie at the park.

When she returned home her GP believed she may be suffering from Norovirus and Tina was prescribed anti-sickness and anti-reflux medication.

But the following evening she was found dead in bed by mum Tina Horne – who desperately tried to revive her.

The teenager, a student at Cardiff West Community High School, initially believed she was suffering with food poisoning after eating a steak and ale pie at the park

Schoolgirl Tina Way, 17, died after an undiagnosed chronic kidney disease developed into sepsis. She had initially though she was ill as a result of food poisoning 

Ms Horne said: ‘I went to her bedroom and saw her lying on her back on the bed and she looked like she was sleeping.

‘When I touched her she was cold and I knew she was gone.’

The inquest heard Ms Horne rang for an ambulance and called Tina’s father Christopher Way who had just left the house in Cardiff.

She said: ‘Chris, she’s gone. She’s gone.’

The inquest heard both parents, who are separated, carried out CPR on Tina until paramedics arrived on July 20 last year.

Ms Horne said: ‘We have no idea what caused her death.

‘We have to know what caused our dream daughter to be taken away so young.’

WHAT IS E.COLI SEPTICEMIA?

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are bacteria that are all around you. But some strains can make you very sick and can cause sepsis.   

Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection. It happens when your immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage your body’s own tissues and organs.

An E. coli infection can be spread from person to person and from animal to person, or you can contract the infection by touching a contaminated object or consuming contaminated food or drink.

The most commonly known symptoms of an E.coli infection are severe abdominal cramping and watery or bloody diarrhea.

Most healthy people recover from an E. coli infection in a week or so. However, young children and seniors, as well as anyone who is medically fragile can become very ill quite quickly.

E. coli infection can also lead to a life-threatening complication of the kidneys called hemolytic uremic syndrome. 

The hearing was told Tina had been a holiday park with a friend when she ate the steak and ale pie before falling ill.

She texted her sister: ‘Guess who’s got food poisoning?’

The inquest in Pontypridd heard Tina had been drinking lots of water in the week before her death and making frequent trips to the toilet.

In the year leading up to her death she was also suffering from anaemia and had previously been given tablets to boost her iron.

A post mortem examination found that her kidneys were half the size of what they should be at just 60g and 55g – a normal size being 150g.

Pathologist Dr Meleri Morgan said she believed Tina had suffered multiple urinary tract infections that caused ‘long standing scarring’ to her kidneys.

She had developed sepsis after E. Coli entered her bloodstream – a different strand to food poisoning.

Dr Morgan gave a medical cause of death as E. Coli septicemia with chronic kidney disease.

GP Dr John Wakeling said he was ‘racking his brains’ over whether there had been any clues over her kidney problems.

He said: ‘I had no indication that Tina had any kidney problems.’

Assistant coroner Rachel Knight recorded a conclusion of natural causes.

She said: ‘When Tina went to her GP she did not display signs typical of sepsis.’

Ms Knight added: ‘There was nothing obvious that could be done differently that could have changed the outcome for Tina.’

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