Toilet brush handle in rear causes woman's death

The inquest was told, Cindy Corton, 35, was left with the bizarre injury after a drunken fall in a friend’s bathroom in 2005 but “serious errors” by doctors then led to her death.
It was two years before Corton, who was in constant pain, was able to convince doctors that the thin plastic handle was stuck in the flesh of her bottom.

By then what should have been a routine procedure to remove it had become much more dangerous because the handle had become embedded in her pelvis. After two unsuccessful operations in 2007 the mother-of-one was in such agony that she agreed to undergo further surgery in June last year despite being told it could prove fatal.

Corton of Sleaford, Lincs, spent more than 10 hours in surgery at Nottingham’s Queens Medical Centre but died from massive blood loss.

Husband Peter, 61, said that when his wife first attended A&E (Accident and Emergency) at Lincoln County Hospital she was sent home with painkillers, despite showing them the wound on her bottom.

Four days later she was in such pain she went to Grantham Hospital and, although x-rays were taken, nothing was found.
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Not properly examined
“She wasn’t properly examined by the doctor at Lincoln. At Grantham she wasn’t examined properly again,” The Sun quoted him as telling the inquest.
“This was unsatisfactory. The failures to investigate sufficiently in the first place at Lincoln and Grantham were a major factor in Cindy suffering.”

Recording a narrative verdict, West Lincolnshire coroner Stuart Fisher criticised Dr Killian Mbewe who first examined Corton at Grantham Hospital. Despite being told what had happened he simply had an x-ray taken which revealed nothing.

Witness Bruce Hickling of Ruskington, Lincs, told the hearing of the night the accident happened when Corton had arrived at his home drunk.

“She was drunk. After about an hour she wanted to go to the toilet but I had to help her up the stairs,” he said. “Then I heard the toilet flush followed by a bang and a cry. I went in and saw Cindy stuck between the toilet and the wall. I tried to lift her but she was wedged tight.” He needed the assistance of a friend to free her before calling an ambulance because she was bleeding. “When the crew arrived they weren’t happy. They said she was drunk.”Corton’s husband is now taking legal action against United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.