A young woman with her "whole life ahead of her" died hours after a routine operation on her jaw.
Laura Broadwell had surgery on her upper and lower jaws in November last year to align her teeth. But while the procedure was carried out smoothly, tragedy struck hours later when she collapsed while going to the toilet.
Despite attempts to resuscitate the 27-year-old, she was rushed into intensive care and died shortly later. An inquest held into her death heard how Laura had developed deep vein thrombosis after the eight-hour surgery at Castle Hill Hospital in East Yorkshire.
Pathologist Melanie Levy told the hearing that Laura would have developed blood clots which travelled from her calf to her lungs when she got out of bed, leading to cardiac arrest. Attempts to revive her sadly led to internal bleeding which was ultimately fatal.
Her heartbroken fiancé Ryan Hardy told the inquest at Hull coroner's court on Tuesday how Laura lived life to the full and was very popular. He said: “We had six very happy years together.
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She'd undergone surgery at the hospital in Cottingham, East Yorkshire (Google Maps)"We were engaged and had bought a house together. Laura was very passionate about her job and was loved by her colleagues. She was also very close to her mum and brother. She had lots of friends and always made time for everyone.”
Mr Hardy said Laura was fit and healthy before she had her operation, Hull Live reports. But she had pain in her jaw and was struggling to eat properly. She had braces fitted between the ages of 13 and 18 but they had not corrected her teeth properly.
Mr Hardy added: “When the surgeon discussed the procedure with Laura he said the chance of death from such surgery was so minimal it was not worth taking about.” Mr Hardy and Laura’s mum Dawn Broadwell visited her after the surgery. While she could not speak properly she was alert and engaging with them.
Laura needed the toilet and the nurse said she would help her so Mr Hardy and her mum left. But 15 minutes later Mr Hardy got a call asking him to return as Laura had suffered a seizure. Despite initially being told she would be okay, Laura’s condition deteriorated and she was moved to the ICU and she died a few hours later.
A statement was also read out from Laura’s mum Dawn in which she said: “Laura had a good relationship with me and her brother. She was very family-oriented. She was also a conscientious worker. She did not drink or smoke and had a healthy diet. I cannot believe this has happened. She was never ill and had her whole life in front of her. She was so happy.”
The surgeon who carried out the operation on Laura gave evidence, saying the surgery had gone well without any complications. He said: “The surgery went very well. The blood loss was not excessive and everything went to plan. I cannot recall any complications.” Dr Trevor Teemul said steps were taken to minimise the threat of thrombosis, using compression stockings and ensuring Laura was kept warm and hydrated during the operation in a bid to reduce the risks.
He also confirmed the length of the operation was the standard time it took for such an operation which, while long, is not ordinarily complex. Senior coroner Professor Paul Marks concluded Laura’s death was due to ‘misadventure’. He ended by saying: “I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Laura in this sad case.”
After the inquest, Jonathan Lofthouse, group chief executive for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We’d like to express our sincere condolences to Ms Broadwell’s family at this very difficult time.”
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