A YOUNG mum died of liver failure only hours after a paramedic decided she did not need hospital treatment, an inquest heard on Friday.

Jennifer Cowle, 31, of Oak Drive, Dursley, did not not tell the ambulance crew she had taken paracetamol and codeine before they arrived at 1.45am on September 5, 2017, to treat her for breathing difficulties, the inquest was told.

Believing she was suffering from anxiety, the paramedic calmed Jennifer down and advised she see her GP if symptoms continued.

But at about 7.30am she collapsed at her mother's home and could not be resuscitated, the Gloucester inquest was told.

Her father, Tony Keedwell-Smith, questioned how his daughter could possibly be deemed fit and well but then die of liver failure just over six hours later.

He said he was especially concerned that his daughter had been examined the day before and there was comment on how 'yellow' she was. He asked why the paramedic did not notice this and had recorded she was of 'normal colour'.

However, the inquest heard, she was not in fact yellow in colour when the post mortem was conducted.

The pathologist found she had died of drug toxicity causing liver failure.

She had 5.3mg of codeine in her blood (people can die if they take more than 2 to 3mg of codeine) and 353mg of paracetamol.

Jennifer’s mother, Rachel Trenchard, had been looking after her because she was aware she was struggling to cope.

In a statement to the inquest, she said her daughter had stopped taking her anti-depressant medication, was taking co-codamol and was not eating well.

Her mother, Rachel Trenchard, who was too upset to attend the inquest, had been looking after Jenny that night after picking her up the day before knowing that she was struggling to cope.

She said in a statement to the inquest that Jenny had stopped taking her anti-depressant medication, was taking co-codamol and was not eating well.

The paramedic, Michael Page, said he was told Jennifer was suffering breathing problems.

When he arrived, he found her sitting up and alert and didn’t think anything was unusual except for a raised respiration and pulse rate which returned to normal while he was there, he said.

He added that he was not notified of any previous medical issues.

Senior Gloucestershire Coroner Katie Skerrett concluded it was a drug related death and said she was satisfied that the ambulance service did all they could.

"A full examination was completed and history taken. There was no mention of previous medical history or medications currently being taken," she said.

"I agree there were no clinical signs that she needed to be admitted to the hospital and therefore no missed opportunities that could have changed what happened.

"It wasn’t avoidable.

"Tragically she succumbed to the drugs in her system."

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