Ills no 'immediate concern'

KEITH LYNCH/ The Press

CONCERNS RAISED: Teenager Kirsten Gordon died in hospital in 2006 after falling ill at a care facility.

DAVID HALLETT/The Press

SAD LOSS: Michael and Judith Gordon with their favourite photo of daughter Kirsten, 19, who died six days after entering the Laura Fergusson Trust facility for the physically disabled.

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Disabled teenager Kirsten Gordon had vomited and complained of a headache in the days before her death but her symptoms indicated there was no "immediate concern", a Coroner's Court in Christchurch has been told.

Gordon, 19, died on March 16, 2006, six days after entering the Laura Fergusson Trust facility for the physically disabled.

She was to be cared for while her parents were on holiday.

Trust team leader Ann Smith said Gordon had not felt well for a couple of days, but added her symptoms suggested there was no "immediate concern on March 15".

Trust carer Emma Scott said Gordon told her she had a headache.

She also saw Gordon vomit, but said due to the teenager's behaviour there was "no indication of her feeling very unwell".

"I'd expect she'd have told me `I needed help', that 'I'm feeling very unwell'," Scott said when questioned by Karen Feltham, counsel for the Gordon Family, on when she would have called for medical help.

"I'm not a nurse.

"By gaining experience from this I would probably do pretty much the same."

Rosalind Mooar, a special education assistant at Mairehau High School, told the inquest she noticed an inflammation in Gordon's upper thigh on March 14. She also noticed Gordon's urine was cloudy.

The next day, the symptoms worsened, and Gordon told her she was "quite hot".

Mooar said she rang the trust twice during the day to discuss Gordon's symptoms and again at 9pm that night.

Mooar said she told the trust she thought Gordon had a urinary tract infection.

She called again the next day, and was told Gordon's condition had deteriorated.

Gordon died that day in Christchurch Hospital.

Trust chief executive Sonia Pratt said Gordon was being cared for in "a social model of support, not a medical model".

However, she agreed with Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean that better communication with Gordon's doctor could have helped avoid the death.

The inquest continues today.

- © Fairfax NZ News