Student died three weeks ater breaking her ankle trying on graduation shoes

Emma Morecombe was rushed to hospital on July 8 after falling down the stairs the day before she was due to collect her Applied Biology degree from Newcastle University.

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The 23-year-old was recovering from surgery at the home she shared with friends in Dilston Road, Fenham, but on July 29 collapsed and was rushed to Newcastle General Hospital.

A massive blood clot had developed as she lay recuperating, which spread to her lungs, and there was nothing doctors at Newcastle General Hospital could do to save her, an inquest in Newcastle heard.

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Pathologist Nigel Cooper told the hearing the chances of an otherwise fit and healthy youngster like Emma dying in that manner were as small as one in 10,000.

Emma lost her mother Carole-Anne eight years ago after she suffered a blood clot following a chest infection, and last night her father Jerry told how he is now trying to rebuild his life.

Mr Morecombe, 63, collected his daughter's degree at a ceremony on Tuesday and on Wednesday university staff took him to see a tree and bench that have been dedicated to Emma.

He said: "I feel like I've lost everything. After her mum died Emma was my life. After her mum died she said 'Now Dad, let's stick together'.

"Every penny I had went to her to help her. I'm very proud of her. I would have loved for her to have carried on her studies.

"I just feel empty now. I've got to try to work out what I'm going to do."

Originally from Hayes End in Middlesex, Emma arrived on Tyneside in 2003 and fell in love with Newcastle, amassing a large circle of friends and relishing her academic studies.

She had left school at 16 and took drama until deciding to study A-levels and become the first member of her family to go to university.

Mr Morecombe, who still lives in Middlesex, said Emma, who was planning to take a Masters course and then a PhD at Newcastle, worked in a number of bars in Newcastle, including the Tuxedo Princess and the Lounge.

The inquest heard how she was found at the foot of the stairs in her student house by friends, and was taken to the General for an operation.

She was released on July 16 and returned home, effectively immobile, to rest her ankle.

Dr Cooper told yesterday's hearing, at Newcastle Civic Centre, that she had been given medication to stop her blood clotting and that there was nothing to indicate that anything was wrong until she collapsed on July 29.

But in the same manner in which long-haul air passengers develop clots, her inactivity caused her blood to coagulate, which then spread through her body.

Dr Cooper said that by the time she arrived at hospital, there was nothing that could have been done to save her.

He said: "The risk of this happening is minute. If you had 1,000 people with fractured ankles who are otherwise healthy, I would have thought one in 1,000 to one in 10,000 would die of this."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Newcastle Coroner David Mitford said: "There is nothing in the evidence I have seen and heard that would indicate that she was dealt with in any way that was inadequate or unsatisfactory, either at the time of the original hospital admission and the operation, then the subsequent manner in which she was discharged."

He told Mr Morecombe: "I think we have all put on a new pair of shoes at some stage. This is very unfortunate and tragic. Our hearts go out to you."

After the hearing Mr Morecombe, who asked a number of questions of the coroner and pathologist, said he had been looking for somebody to blame, but accepted his daughter's death had been a tragedy.