Inquest into death of beloved Millom community hero

The community in Millom was devastated when Alex Kellett, a carer and well-known charity fundraiser died in November 2015, aged only 29.

Yesterday, at her inquest, it emerged that in the months leading up to her death, Miss Kellett fought an aggressive form of cervical cancer after it was detected during a smear test in April 2015.

At the beginning of the inquest, a statement was read out on behalf of Miss Kellett's mother, Joan.

Alex's mum, Joan Kellett In it, she said: "Alex was our only daughter. At the time of her death she was a senior carer at St George's Care Home, working since the age of 16. She was determined to complete the NVQ qualification to become a carer."

A dedication to others was what defined Miss Kellett's life. She worked tirelessly for worthy causes in her community, and was an ardent campaigner for Help for Heroes, and the Royal British Legion.

After irregularities were detected after her smear test, she was given an emergency referral to cancer specialists at Furness General Hospital. It was discovered she had stage 3b cervical carcinoma, and an immediate course of radio and chemotherapy was recommended to combat the disease.

There were complications in Miss Kellett's case due to the nature of her cancer. A stent was implanted to lessen the impact the cancer was having on one of her kidneys, and she was admitted to hospital on more than one occasion.

But, after going through radiotherapy and chemotherapy during the summer of 2015, the tumour inside Miss Kellett had shrunk from the size of a fist, to the that of a fingernail.

Giving evidence, Dr Geraldine Skailes, the consultant oncologist at FGH who oversaw Miss Kellett's treatment, said: "There had been initially a very good response to the treatment. I saw Alex at my clinic at FGH on October 23 and at that time she reported feeling quite well."

However, soon after Miss Kellett's condition started to decline, she told her mother that she felt sick, had no appetite and had lower back pain.

The family went to their local GP at the Waterloo House Surgery in Millom in mid-November 2015, where blood and urine samples were taken and analysed.

Results showed there was no infection, and it was believed Miss Kellett was suffering from common after effects of cervical cancer treatment, such as back pain and sickness.

Two weeks later on November 26, Miss Kellett was found collapsed at her home after suffering what was later discovered to be a cardiac arrest. The family called 999 and Miss Kellett was attended to by three paramedics and an on-call doctor who managed to resuscitate her after an hour.

She was taken to FGH by ambulance, where staff worked to stabilise her. When she was taken for a CT scan, she then suffered a second cardiac arrest.

Giving evidence, Dr Richard Law, the emergency doctor who worked on Miss Kellett estimated her heart had not been beating for more than an hour before she arrived in hospital.

The second heart attack left Miss Kellett in a coma, with massive neurological damage. Doctors told the family there was virtually no chance or recovery. At 7.22am on November 27, Miss Kellett died.

The pathologist Dr MCJ Sissons and expert witness, microbiologist Dr David Telford from the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, found there was little evidence to suggest Miss Kellett's condition would deteriorate so fast.

The explanation for Miss Kellett's death was as a result of her cancer recovery, she developed a severe uterine inflammation, this led to the development of systemic inflammatory response syndrome, or SIRS.

It was this which contributed to Miss Kellett's heart attack.

Coroner Robert Chapman said that a lack of evidence made it difficult to make conclusions. He said: "As to what caused the cardiac arrest, we are in some difficulty. The evidence from Dr Telford, he says there is nothing to indicate any infection."

Mr Chapman recorded a verdict that on November 27 2015, Miss Kellett died due to natural causes.