Baby’s short life beset with problems
THE young mother of a little girl from Snod- land wept as a court heard how the tot had contracted pneumonia and died, suffering from rickets, aged only 14 months. Little Chelsea Ashley, also known as Chelsea Lynch, spent her first year in hos- pital after being born prematurely with complex medical needs. Several sections of her small intestine
were removed, which in turn brought about short gut syndrome, affecting her ability to absorb nutrients, vitamins and water, lead- ing to brittle bones and rickets – common in Victorian England but relatively rare today. Chelsea, from Birling Road, spent nine months in King’s College Hospital, London, at one point in an induced coma. She was later moved to Medway Maritime Hospital as the first phase of the plan to get her home. By January 2012, Chelsea was considered
well enough to go home, but less than three weeks later her mother Kelly noticed she had a cough and consulted their GP. A Maidstone inquest heard that the doc-
tor said there were signs of an infection starting and prescribed antibiotics. A week later, when the cough had not cleared, he noted she had a slight temperature and sug- gested paracetamol and steam to help clear her airways. Mrs Lynch put Chelsea to bed as usual around midnight, but when she went to wake her at about 6am on January 24, found her unresponsive. Dr Richard Patey from MedwayMaritime Hospital told the inquest: “The hope was that Chelsea would go home and lead a nor- mal life. She was discharged as ‘well’ on January 6 so we were surprised she had come back in this collapsed state.”
Villagers work together to open shop
TESTON has a village shop oncemore, after resi- dents and parish councillors pulled together to open a new general store. Since Teston Village Stores opened a few weeks
ago, residents have been calling in to buy fresh local produce, bread, milk, eggs, groceries, con- fectionery, newspapers and stamps. The store, in a green cabin next to the village hall,
is run by manager Becky Collins, with a team of volunteers, and parish councillors as directors. Becky used towork in the village’s general store
and post office across the road in Church Street. The business closed last year following the death of John Zygnant, who ran it for many years. Parish council chairman Peter Coulling and his council colleagues organised a series of meetings
and questionnaires which established that resi- dents wanted a community store. The shop is being run as a non-profit making concern, with temporary planning permission for a year and it is hoped a post office will soon be in- troduced. If successful, the store could find a per- manent home in an extension to the village hall. Volunteer Susanne Hand (pictured) said: “The
shop has been going reallywell and the whole vil- lage seems to be supporting it, which is lovely. It brings a smile to their faces when they come in. It’s not just a shop, it’s a place where you will al- ways bump into someone you know.” The shop is open every day except Christmas
Day and from 8am, closing at 4pm on weekdays and noon at weekends.
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But he added: “I have seen children with similar problems change very swiftly – even in the care of people who are used to deal- ing with them. It is profoundly sad.” Consultant paediatric pathologist Dr Irene Schiemberg, from the Royal London Hospi- tal, who conducted a post mortem exami- nation on the little girl, said she found evidence of rickets, as well as rib fractures, an abnormal liver and enlarged spleen. Even though Chelsea’s birth age was 14 months, in reality, her size and develop- ment put her closer to 11 months. In recording a verdict of natural causes,
listing the cause of death as bronchial pneu- monia, deputy assistant coroner for Mid Kent and Medway Rachel Redman said: “Everyone tried to be optimistic in the hope Chelsea would live an independent life but tragically, that was not meant to be.”
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