The Tumut and Adelong Times 27 Mar 1928
DEATH OF JEAN E. W. MOORHEAD. At the Tumut Court House on Thursday last, Coroner R. L. Blakeney held an inquest touching the death of Jean Elizabeth Wilson Moorhead, the five-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. Moorhead, of Talbingo, who died at the Tumut and District Hospital that day from injuries accidentally received while romping with other children at her parents' residence, Talbingo, on March 6. Sergt. Vallins deposed to learning of the death and to examining the body, which showed no external marks of violence. A surgical incision had been made on the right side. Inquiries made elicited that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the case. Ethel May Moorhead, mother of deceased, deposed : — On March 6 at tea time, deceased complained of not feeling well and did not eat her tea. The following morning early she started to retch. During that day she did not eat anything and appeared to be out of sorts. Gave her a dose of oil. During the day she told me that she had a bump while playing on the bed. On Wednesday night she rested well and on Thursday morning said she felt better. When she got up she vomited again, and I then noticed that there were streaks of blood in the vomit. This alarmed me and I brought her in to the doctor at Tumut, who ordered her admission to the hospital. She had treatment there until her death occurred at about 1.30 in the morning of March 22. The doctors pronounced the case serious and yesterday performed an operation on the child. Dr. C. S. Browne first saw deceased at about 5 p.m. on March 8. The child was then quiet, evidently very ill, complaining of obscure abdominal pains and tenderness. Examination revealed no outward sign of injury. She was at once admitted to hospital and kept under close observation. For the first three days after admission her condition was very serious. Subsequently she gradually improved, but four days ago unfavorable symptoms pointing to the formation of an external abscess arose. Yesterday morning an operation became imperative. At the operation two separate collections of pus were discovered, one low down amongst her intestines and a larger one high up towards the liver region. These abscesses were both drained. In the substance of the abdominal wall, low down on the right side, there was a hard mass such as might reasonably have arisen from a severe injury in that region. The upper abscess contained a large amount of both pus and broken down blood clot. The child was very collapsed at the conclusion of the operation, and, in spite of all the usual methods of restoration, gradually sank and died about 2 o'clock this morning. Am of the opinion that the cause of her death was the formation of abscesses internally, following on a bleeding within the peritoneum, caused by external violence which could have been caused by coming in contact with an iron bedstead while romping with other children. Know the family personally and there are no suspicious circumstances. The Coroner returned a verdict in accordance with the medical testimony. |