Accident led to fatal disorder

A WELDER died from an extremely rare blood disorder brought on by an injury he suffered in an accident at work.

An inquest heard that 42-year-old Kevin Turner, of Upper Horsebridge Road, Hailsham, was working in the yard at Newton and Frost Fencing in Horam on April 4 when his foot became trapped under the wheel of a forklift truck.

He was taken to hospital where medics found that he had broken no bones and that he had only suffered some bruising and a minor graze on his left ankle. Five days later, he was dead.

At the inquest yesterday (Thursday), pathologist Dr Jane Mercer explained that Mr Turner had contracted a very rare but fatal blood clotting problem which had clogged his adrenal glands.

'Both of his adrenal glands were congested with blood a condition called infarction,' she said. 'The infarction of both adrenal glands is extremely unusual, but it causes complete circulatory collapse and death.

'The commonest cause is meningitis, but there was no evidence of that. In very rare cases a major injury can cause the blood to start clotting all over the body, so you end up with clots in all the major organs.

'He had a minor injury with only some bruising and a small graze. This complaint is extremely rare and is only usually caused by major, crushing injuries. But, by process of elimination, I can only say that that's what caused it.'

The matter was reported to the local health and safety officer, who found that Mr Turner's accident was due to an error of his own. Mr Turner had been trying to jump-start a lorry with a forklift truck, but had accidentally left the truck 'in gear', so it lurched backwards onto his foot when he revved the engine from outside.

On the evening of April 11 five days after his accident Mr Turner was at home with his parents, having been signed off work for a week with his injury. He suddenly experienced a fit of breathlessness and, despite the efforts of his parents and brother to resuscitate him, died just minutes later.

The jury in the inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death.