A YOUNG woman who died after developing an “aggressive” infection in Australia told a friend she wasn’t feeling bad 45 minutes before she was found unresponsive in her bedroom, an inquest has heard.
Sarah Mary McGoldrick (21), of Macetown, Co Meath, died suddenly in the Western Australian city of Perth on September 29th, 2008.
The Montessori teacher, who had arrived in Australia in January, had been complaining of a sore throat the week before her death and attended a doctor in Melbourne who diagnosed a viral infection and prescribed antibiotics.
Ms McGoldrick left for Perth later in the week where she was met by a friend, Melissa Kerr, who brought her to a hospital as she was feeling unwell, her father Patrick McGoldrick told Dublin County Coroner’s Court yesterday.
Mr McGoldrick, who was at the inquest with his wife Ann, said doctors at the hospital found Sarah had a sore throat and advised her to continue her antibiotics and to return to the hospital if she was unable to take them.
On the morning of September 29th she had a bowl of soup and took her medication. She told Ms Kerr at 11am that she “wasn’t feeling bad at all”, Mr McGoldrick said. At 11.45 Ms Kerr discovered the deceased in her bedroom.
A postmortem found Ms McGoldrick had an aggressive bacterial infection which had spread to her lymph nodes and into her chest. Pathologist Dr Eamon Leen, who carried out a second postmortem in Ireland, said he had never seen a similar case and it was “very unusual in what should have been a straightforward bacterial infection”.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty recorded a verdict of natural death. He said it was likely this was a most rare occurrence.