A 'beautiful' mum's death remains a mystery after she died suddenly at home, four months after a fall and multiple hospital visits.
Anna Ayre, 43, died on January 27 this year - four months after suffering a severe head injury which saw her taken to Royal Bolton Hospital and Salford Royal Infirmary, a coroners court heard. Anna, from Turton, was found dead at home.
Assistant Coroner Kate Bissett said Anna's death was "an extremely unusual situation" after a post mortem examination and toxicology reports were unable to ascertain a cause of death. The coroner recorded her death as 'natural' but by 'unexplained means' - so her loved ones may never know the truth of what happened to here, LancsLive reports.
The inquest at Accrington Coroner's Court heard on November 16, 2021, Anna, a purchase ledger clerk, suffered a severe head injury at her home in Springvale, Turton. The court heard neighbours found Anna collapsed in the hallway and called emergency services who took her to Royal Bolton Hospital by ambulance.
CT scans showed the mum-of-two suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on her brain. She suffered a number of seizures and was transferred to Salford Royal Infirmary where she was placed in an induced coma, the court heard. Anna's friend, David Mapleton, was arrested on suspicion of assault but was found to be 'entirely innocent.' He told the court he was driving from Nottingham to visit her when she collapsed.
Anna remained in hospital until December 10 and was treated on the critical care and trauma rehabilitation wards. However she was determined to go home before her birthday on December 12, her boyfriend told the court.
On December 11, following a safeguarding and capacity review, Anna returned home and assured doctors David would stay with her for several weeks over the Christmas period. She told medics one of her daughters had epilepsy and she knew how to manage seizures.
Doctors said Anna had capacity to make decisions about her care and discharged her with pain relief and epilepsy medication to prevent seizures. They warned Anna, who had a history of heavy drinking, that she must abstain from alcohol and keep up with her medication regime.
Medical records showed Anna, who had a history of anxiety, anaemia and low magnesium, had spoken to her GP and pharmacist on the phone but did not attend a face-to-face appointment on December 20. On December 23, Anna's GP tried to refer her to the Bolton neurosurgery team, but the referral was not successful due to her living outside the GP's practice area.
Anna was told she would have to find a new GP, however she declined, and no further referral was made, the court heard. During a video consultation on January 4, Anna said she was suffering with headaches which were worse at night and were interrupting her sleep. She said paracetamol was no longer helping, and said she did not know the cause of her collapse in November - although there was a family history of epilepsy.
Brian Cousins told the court he had only known Anna a few weeks before she died. The pair had met online and Anna spent 'a few weeks' at his home near Liverpool after the New Year, as she was afraid to stay at home alone. At around 1:30pm on January 26, Brian spoke to Anna on the phone and arranged to visit her at home. However when he arrived, she did not answer the door, and text messages and WhatsApps remained unread, he told the court.
The following day, Mr Cousins was so concerned he alerted emergency services, who found Anna had died. The corner told him: "Whatever happened was very quick and I am quite satisfied there was nothing you could have done in the circumstances that would have made any difference."
Toxicology tests showed Anna had no alcohol in her system at the time she died and there was no sign of any new injury. She had antidepressants in her blood, which corresponded to her prescription, but no anti-seizure drugs were detected.
Recording an open verdict, the coroner said: "Anna Caroline Ayre died on January 27, 2022, at her home address. She had previously sustained a head injury in November 2021 and had suffered a number of seizures. It is not possible to determine what caused Anna's death but there are no suspicious circumstances.
"This was a natural death by some unknown means. I hope to offer her children some reassurance that this was not suicide, it was not someone doing something wrong and it is not alcohol related. We know that."
The coroner criticised the police for David's arrest, when Anna was found injured at home in November. He said: "It was quite a traumatic experience. Anna was my main concern but they were unable to give me any information. I was treated fine but I think it was completely unnecessary. I was shocked. I was clearly shocked, but I understand the police have to follow these leads."
"That did not have to involve locking you up overnight", Ms Bissett said. "I hope you were treated well."
Speaking after the inquest, David said: "She was a lovely person, down to earth. She had beautiful eyes. She was very pretty. She went through a very difficult ordeal with her relationship breakup and the hospital.
"Anna always talked about her daughters. She loved them very much. She was a truly lovely person and she didn't deserve this. She was in the process of trying to see her daughters and was about to arrange visitation with her ex, but unfortunately that didn't materialise."
Brian added: "Her children were her world. She struggled not being able to see them. She was a fit and active person and wanted to get back into running."
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