AN INQUEST

Hokitika Guardian, 24 September 1932, Page 3

AN INQUEST

DEATH OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL,;. ..tevjAT. WESTLAND \*- Ah inquest wae held at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday afternoon before Coroner Meldrum touching the of Joseph Campb|fl on: September- followjn|i the &ving df .an ifenaestlietifi.- Evidenets ' as follows ; by SeFgeant King.;/-:, "' Basil Lawn' Wilson gave evidence that jhe was medical sperintendent ot the Westland Hospital;' About 3 p.in.; on 1 19th September,,- Joseph Campbell l was brought to his’surgery suffering from a deep cut below the right ankle On further examination it was forifed that a tendon had been divided. Dressed , the wound temporarily and allowed* the patient to go to his home at Kan-, leri' by car for the purpose o changing hirii/tb/ go Hospital; '"Bed...Deemed it:advisable to tak£; liipr, to the operating theatre for the! piir pose of securing the tendon. That opevatiotn necessitated the administering of an anaesthetic.. Before that’, anaesthetic Was given thri' usual'precautions'were taken to sound the. man, both by.' witness and . Dr. Teichelmann. - Tlie result, of the examination was satisfactoiy,. and the anaesthe'Jic was adminis-;: tered to the . patient. Refoi;p ; the qpei;r : atioh: had comihehced' the. patient cbte; lapsed!. He collapsed in the last stage of receiving tli.e aiffiestlietic; ienri.-iyas at once given the necessfi'tS stiynnlants and artificial respiration was coinmenced, but there .wagrStijrekpdnsb';.: There was nothing in the anaesthetic io ; 4cbqurit for the 'collapse; V''Thefts; was some underlying Cause, not obvious, by examination, ahd'-'he considereS thib •cpuld bhly be shown by a.post mortem. Re •formed a post mortem next morning afd found there;-’ ,werje.A‘arterip*rgal’" erusis|'f ha.nges' in the heart... The muscles •• of. the heart were a little soft’ and fhin. There was ‘'ah' oid" pleurisy off biteleft 5 lung, there were chriffiic' changes in both; kidneys and a haemorrhage at, the base of the left kidney. The urine was, loaded with" albumen;!. The/ effuse of. debth was a failure of the heart due to plirpnic nephritis and’ arterio-gal-,: erosisj."/occurring during the second or struggling stage of the indiicjtjon, of the; gnaesthetic, and also to the age of thq patient, 63 years.- , ' - Evelyn Campbell, wife of the deceasecl. ‘gave, evidence that she resided at Kaniqri. Saw her .husband the after Ibis death at the libspital .He was 63 yeffrs of age. He left home the .viouis morning to go to work-in his usual health. He had not pomplaiffed . of feeling ill.

\ : A '■ The Verdict. ■(■■■■■ c. ... ■ : irV;-;4 'die Coroner returned a verdict the sdeceased, Joseph CaropbeU. j came,.tp / his j %.ath at the Westland/’Hpspitar on 519th September, 1932, froth, heart? failure due to chronic,, nephritis" and, a.C qjrio-galerosis, and to the striigglipp foVltnving ,the ; . induction ,of, ; an- .-ana©?;:: dh.'tic- and due in part to his ;age; 63, years. All possible precautions had been taken before the .anaesthetic sV.au, administered and on his co p apse, all, possible step's were immediately taken to restore respiration. . .. .