Last updated at 11:33, Monday, 13 July 2009

A “FIT” 56-year-old man died of pneumonia after catching flu.

David Paul William Smith had fallen ill with flu, but died soon after, an inquest heard.

It is still not known exactly where Mr Smith caught the virus, but the inquest found there were no unusual circumstances.

Mr Smith died on January 21 of natural causes from haemorrhagic pneumonia.

Consultant histopathologist Nic Mapstone, who carried out the autopsy, told the inquest: “Most likely he caught influenza like anyone else catches flu.

“Had he gone into hospital no one would have been able to make the diagnosis that quickly. CPR would have been no use whatsoever. No one really knows why some people have an abnormal response to flu. Normally we take a few days to recover, some people, they get a cataclysmic effect.”

The doctor said there were a number of abnormalities in Mr Smith’s body, including narrowing of the ventricles that supplied his heart with blood, and his brain was slightly swollen.

He added: “There was no evidence of emphysema. There was no evidence of scarring in the lungs.

“The most significant find is his lungs. His lungs appeared to have been haemorrhaging.”

Mr Smith lived in Flass Lane, Barrow.

His family gathered at Barrow Town Hall on Tuesday for the inquest.

South and East Cumbria Coroner Ian Smith ruled the case was not swine flu.

He recorded a verdict of natural causes due to haemorrhagic pneumonia.

In summing up the case he said: “This seems very worrying.

“It was not understood why he died.

“An apparently fit man, with the doctors help, it is clear that he did have an infection and it affected him in an untypical manner, which led to him having bleeding in his lungs, leading sadly to his death.”

First published at 10:54, Saturday, 11 July 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk