Dena Collins died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Greenwich, London, on January 12 2023 from a heart attack caused by a blood clot.
A primary school teacher who died one day after being discharged from hospital would have survived had a blood clot been diagnosed and treated, a coroner has found.
Dena Collins, 28, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Greenwich, London, on January 12 2023 from a heart attack caused by a blood clot, despite medics initially suspecting a clot may be behind her symptoms.
Miss Collins, from Eltham in south London, had texted friends and family saying she suspected she had a blood clot after Googling her symptoms and potential side effects of antibiotics she was taking.
On Friday, an inquest into her death concluded at Inner South London Coroner’s Court on what would have been her 32nd birthday.
After the hearing, her sister Clare urged people to “trust your body” and “advocate for yourself” if something feels wrong as Dena had visited both her GP and the hospital regarding her symptoms before she died.
Delivering her conclusion, assistant coroner for the area Linda Jacobs said a post-mortem examination found Miss Collins had died from a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot in a large vein and pulmonary embolism, a blood clot that occurs in the lungs.
The coroner said: “Had the suspicion of a DVT and a pulmonary embolism been acted upon and a treatment dose had been given – the fatal cardiac arrest would’ve been avoided.”
“Had a DVT and a pulmonary embolism continued to be accepted, she would’ve received treatment dose anti-coagulant and on the balance of probabilities would not have died,” she added.
Miss Collins visited her local GP three days before her death, complaining of leg pain, and was diagnosed with muscular pain and given reassurance.
On January 11, the nursery and reception teacher went to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital complaining of four days of leg pain, fever and diarrhoea. She used a crutch to walk and was limping because of the pain.
Despite the possibility of a blood clot being noted at triage and positive results from a D-dimer, a test used to identify clots, she was given a diagnosis of a possible ruptured cyst and told to return the next day for a scan.
The lifelong Crystal Palace fan collapsed at her family home the next morning and her father gave her CPR before an ambulance took her back to the same hospital, where she died a couple of hours later.
The coroner said she had found there had been “errors of clinical judgment” in both Miss Collins’ primary and secondary care in the lead up to her death, but that this did not amount to neglect.
Ms Jacobs noted that risk factors including that Miss Collins had been taking the combined oral contraceptive pill were not considered during her visit to the GP.
Speaking after the hearing, Miss Collins’ sister Clare said: “Dena knew her body. She knew something wasn’t right and she sought help repeatedly.
“If there is one thing I hope people take from her story it is this – trust your body, trust your gut.
“If something feels wrong, keep asking questions, seek a second opinion and advocate for yourself loudly.
“We hope the findings of this inquest lead to accountability and meaningful change so that no other family has to experience all that we have endured.”
Dozens of Miss Collins’ family members and friends joined the inquest conclusion hearing online, and her parents and sister attended in person.
The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has been contacted for comment.
