Family of Cornwall girl, 6, misled over cause of death, coroner finds

A six-year-old girl thought to have died from sepsis was in fact suffering from a blood condition triggered by E coli infection, an inquest has found.

Coco Rose Bradford was taken to the Royal Cornwall hospital in the summer of 2017 suffering from stomach problems and later transferred to the Bristol Royal hospital for children, where she died.

The following year an independent review flagged up failings in her care in Cornwall and the Royal Cornwall hospitals trust apologised for how it had treated her.

Her family were left with the belief she had died of sepsis and could have been saved if she had been given antibiotics. But on Friday, coroner Andrew Cox, sitting in Truro, found that Coco died from multiple organ failure caused by haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). The inquest heard there is no proven treatment for HUS.

Cox said Coco’s family had been misled over the sepsis diagnosis, which he said was deeply regrettable, adding: “As a matter of fact, I find Coco had overwhelming HUS, not overwhelming sepsis.”

During the inquest, the court heard Coco’s family felt staff at the Cornish hospital were “dismissive, rude and arrogant” and did not take her condition seriously.

Cox found that although staff had recognised the risk of HUS from the moment Coco was admitted, this was not clearly set out in a robust management plan. The coroner also said a lack of communication had made Coco “something of a hostage to fortune”.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 January 2022