A MUM, grandmother and great-grandmother of three died at Furness General Hospital of septic shock, an inquest heard.

Kathleen Anne McCowen, of Buxton Street, Barrow, died in hospital on December 5, 2023 after being rushed to hospital the previous morning. 

Ms McCowen, 77, was found by her daughter Donna and her partner, who called 999 at around 8.20am on December 4 after finding her sitting on the floor of her bedroom. 

Paramedics found her unable to rise and her body temperature at 35 degrees, which they considered ‘cold’ stating the property was warm and Ms McCowen was fully clothed. 

A statement submitted to the court by her daughter spoke of Ms McCowen as an ‘independent, strong-willed lady, who wouldn’t accept outside carers, even in her final days'.

It said: ”She never wanted to be a burden, or rely on others, even though her health was failing.” 

A GP report said Ms McCowen was treated for chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD) in October 2023 and had regular COPD reviews. 

A statement by a doctor at Furness General Hospital, who was involved in Ms McCowen’s care, reported her daughter said ‘over the last couple of weeks she was not managing well, but was reluctant to accept help’. 

She said she had also noticed that her legs were swollen and she could not sit down. 

Upon admission, further examination showed Ms McCowen as ‘hypothermic’ at 32 degrees. 

When Ms McCowen was referred to the medical team at 3.56pm that day, her blood pressure was ‘indicative of septic shock’, and her pulse rate was ‘very high’, the inquest heard.

She was placed on a high-dependency level of care. 

The statement said her blood pressure deteriorated further and despite the best efforts of doctors to resuscitate her, Ms McCowen passed away at 9.57am on December 5. 

Assistant Coroner for Cumbria Margaret Taylor accepted the cause of death as sepsis, pneumonia, hypothermia, with an underlying cause of COPD. 

Ms Taylor said septic shock is classed as a ‘natural’ cause of death.