Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

A TWENTY-one-year-old Kidderminster woman who died suddenly after complaining of flu-like symptoms had pneumonia, a coroner has ruled.

Lisa Wimbush, of Trimpley Close, began to feel ill on Tuesday, November 23, 2010 but went to work as usual at the British Heart Foundation charity shop in Kidderminster. She took painkillers including Calpol but the following day she felt worse and called in sick.

She stayed in bed at the home she shared with her mother, Amanda Tovey, who went to work at the Co-operative in Stourport and phoned to check on her daughter before 8pm. Miss Wimbush answered the phone downstairs.

When Ms Tovey returned from work at about 10.20pm, Miss Wimbush was in bed complaining of being cold and asked for help to get to the bathroom as her legs felt weak. She got into her mother’s bed with extra blankets while Ms Tovey lay in a sleeping bag on the floor beside her.

At about 3am Ms Tovey fell asleep and when she woke at about 9am on the morning of Thursday, November 25, 2010, she realised her daughter was dead.

Dr George Kondratowicz carried out an autopsy at Alexandra Hospital in Redditch the following day. His report said he found evidence of pneumonia in her respiratory system which was quite widespread and involved both lungs.

Her blood contained hydroxybutyrates which are a non-specific indicator of pneumonia.

Coroner Geraint Williams recorded a verdict of death by natural causes. He said Miss Wimbush died in her sleep from acute bronchial pneumonia.

More than 100 people attended her funeral at St John the Baptist Church in Kidderminster on Tuesday, December 14 and hundreds of tributes have been left on her facebook page.

Her father, Paul Wimbush, of Cleobury Mortimer, who works for Royal Mail in Kidderminster, speaking outside the inquest, said: “It was very sudden. I am just handling it in the best way I can.”

He last saw his daughter last summer and they kept in touch via text and email. He has kept a text he received from her on Father’s Day on his phone. He described her as a girl who had a lot of friends and who liked animals, going to concerts, ice-skating and reality tv shows.

Money raised in Miss Wimbush’s memory, from a collection at her funeral and donations from Mr Wimbush’s colleagues at Royal Mail, has totalled £350 and will be given to the British Heart Foundation shop where she worked.