Rabies victim's deterioration was 'traumatic'

The family of a grandmother who died from rabies have told an inquest they are determined her death will "not be without meaning".

Yvonne Ford, 59, from Barnsley, died four months after she was scratched by a stray dog she startled under her sun lounger on a beach during a holiday in Morocco last February.

An inquest in Sheffield has heard she was admitted to Barnsley Hospital after becoming ill in June, where her condition deteriorated before a psychiatrist recognised she might have rabies.

In a statement read to the hearing, her daughter Robyn Thomson said they wanted to prevent another family "from enduring this trauma, loss and devastation".

Thomson said it was vital the public were made aware that they must seek urgent medical advice if they were scratched or bitten by an animal abroad.

She described her as a "loving, active and devoted family woman" who was a "fantastic wife", a "wonderful mother" and an "exceptional grandmother" to her four grandchildren.

Speaking on behalf of the wider family, Thomson added: "We are determined that Yvonne's death will not be without meaning."

Thomson said her mother was scratched last year on 12 February but it was "very minor with no evident bleeding."

The jury has been told how Ford went to Barnsley Hospital on 2 June with a range of symptoms including severe headaches, nausea, mobility issues and disorientation.

She was admitted a day later as her condition deteriorated but doctors struggled to work out what was wrong with her.

Rabies was only diagnosed after a psychiatrist asked about Ford's travel history when he was called in by medical colleagues who were concerned that symptoms including hallucinations, disorientation and high levels of anxiety could have a mental health cause.

Ford was then transferred to an infectious disease unit at Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital where she died.

Thomson explained to the jury how family and staff had to wear gloves, masks, visors and aprons when they were with her mother but she said they "held her hand during her final breaths".

She said "watching Yvonne deteriorate so rapidly was extremely traumatic".

Thomson told the jury how they had to watch her deteriorate "in real time without explanation and with growing fear".

She said the family had a number of concerns about the basic care her mother received in Barnsley and believed she was not "treated with the level of dignity and respect she deserved".

Thomson described how her mother refused to drink, despite desperate efforts from her family to hydrate her with a syringe, and was spitting out her saliva every five to 10 seconds until she died.

Infectious diseases expert Katharine Cartwright, from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, previously told the inquest how this was a manifestation of hydrophobia - the fear of water - which is a symptom found only with rabies.

She said it appeared that Ford began to exhibit symptoms at the very end of May and, therefore, there was nothing that could have been done at Barnsley Hospital that would have saved her. The disease is always fatal once symptoms have presented.