SUDDEN DEATH.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5183, 26 September 1927, Page 2

SUDDEN DEATH.

THE LATE MR. A. R. AITKEN.

COLLAPSE IN DENTAL CHAIR

An inquest into the death of Alexander Robert Aitken, who collapsed while under an anaesthetic in dental rooms at Waihi on Friday morning, was heard before the coroner, Mr W. M. Wallnutt, on Saturday. SeniorSergeant Maclean represented the police.

Dr. Short, who conducted the postmortem, said there was a fatty infiltration of the heart, and one of the valves was diseased. There was no sign of foreign matter in the air passages of the lungs. Death was due to heart failure, caused by the effects of an anaesthetic on a diseased and weak heart.

The coroner, returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence, and said it was clear that the anaesthetic had been administered in the usual and correct way, and everything possible done to restore life. The late Mr Aitken was a resident of Karangahake, and was a son of Mr Robert M. Aikten, of Auckland. He was engaged in dismantling machinery at the Talisman mine, Karangahake, on behalf of his father. Deceased was well known in this district, his family having resided in Paeroa for some time, and was’, a man of fine physique, of genial disposition, and manly in character, and the news of his sudden death will come as a shock to his many friends. He was 34 years of age, and leaves a widow and two young children t,o mourn their loss.