An elderly woman who was hit accidentally by a car her husband was driving on Christmas Day died of complications from her injury, an inquest has heard.
Mary Kelly (71), McKee Avenue, Finglas, Dublin, was struck by her husband's rolling car as she stood at her daughter's front door in Santry on December 25th, 2003, driving over both her legs, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday.
Her daughter, Carmel Moorehouse, told the inquest her mother had got out of her father's car in her driveway, which is on a downward slope.
Mrs Kelly spent most of the next 18 months in hospital and died on June 15th, 2005, of complications of the fractures to her leg. The inquest heard she was treated with the anti-blood-clotting agent warfarin when she was initially admitted to hospital but it was discontinued.
Ms Moorehouse told the court that her family never got the opportunity to discuss with staff at Dublin's Beaumont hospital her mother's condition, despite repeated requests.
The court heard that Mrs Kelly developed deep venous thrombosis in her legs. These clots then travelled to her lungs and caused sudden cardiac arrest, the postmortem found. "If there was a chance of her getting pulmonary clots why take her off warfarin?" Ms Moorehouse asked.
In a report from Beaumont hospital, orthopedic surgeon John Byrne said that they had considered amputation of Mrs Kelly's lower leg but eventually decided against it.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell adjourned the inquest until October 27th so that representatives from the hospital could attend and explain why Mrs Kelly had been taken off warfarin.