Mother dies from MRSA following gastric bypass surgery she had for 'sake of son'

An obese mother died from rare complications to a stomach-stapling operation after she resorted to surgery to spare her young son embarrassment, an inquest has heard.

Suzanne Murphy, 29, was desperate to lose weight so she could enjoy an active life with her only child.

She weighed more than 19 stone and feared her size may cause five-year-old Jacob problems as he grew up.

The routine gastric bypass surgery was carried out successfully, but she developed the superbug MRSA and died from multiple organ failure four days after the slimming operation.

A heartbreaking note left by Miss Murphy under Jacob's pillow before the operation was read to the inquest yesterday.

She wrote: 'To my beautiful baby boy. All you have to know is mummy is doing this for you and me.

'Mummy has carried a lot of weight in my head and heart and body for as long as I can remember  -  I don't want my baggage to become a weight you have to carry, son.

'You know mummy is strong and would do anything for you  -  get the stars from the sky if I could  -  but with this problem darling mummy can't do it alone. I need a helping hand.

'So when the nice doctors said they could help me with getting the weight off the outside, mummy thought very long and carefully and finally said, "Yes please".'

Tragic: Suzanne Murphy, seen here with her son Jacob, died from MRSA after a gastric bypass operation

Miss Murphy wrote that she wanted to give them both a 'fresh start', adding: 'You are my oxygen. I love you so much I want you to have the best and happiest life I can give.'

Her sister, Linda Richardson, said in a statement: 'She had put on a lot of weight over the years and felt it was stopping her doing the things she wanted to with Jacob.'

Sheila Connor, Miss Murphy's half-sister, asked her on the morning of the operation not to go ahead, but was told not to be 'silly'.

Miss Murphy, of Halifax, had surgery at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary on October 31, 2006.

The operation is used in extreme cases and involves surgical staples creating a pouch in the upper part of the stomach and a section of intestine being removed. It means the patient can eat only small meals and food is absorbed less easily into the body.

Consultant surgeon Brian Dobbins told the inquest in Huddersfield that her condition deteriorated after the operation, but further exploratory surgery revealed little of concern. He said: 'I personally expected Suzanne to turn a corner at this point. I felt there was nothing untoward.'

But she died on November 4, and tests revealed she was positive for MRSA.

Dr Dominic Bell, who carried out an independent investigation into her death, said he believed she was one of a tiny percentage of the population prone to a disastrous physical reaction to surgery known as 'systemic inflammatory response syndrome'.

He said she had a devastating reaction to the operation, a blood transfusion she had afterwards and exploratory surgery to identify the problem.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, coroner Paul Marks said: 'MRSA was not relevant on the balance of probabilities to her death.' He said her body's unusual reaction was the cause of her death, brought on by the bypass surgery and her morbid obesity.

After the case Mrs Richardson said: 'They swept the bug issue under the carpet and put it down to everything else. But this has been going on for two years, so at least we have an answer, even if it's not the one we want.'

TV presenter Fern Britton admitted earlier this month that she had a gastric band operation to lose five stone. It is a slightly different procedure in which the stomach is made smaller by use of a band.