An inquest into the untimely death of a young man after he suffered an epileptic fit in a shopping centre was held this morning.
Jaffar Ali, 22, of Great Elms Road, Hemel Hempstead, had a history of epilepsy and took medication to manage the condition, which affects the brain and causes seizures.
In a documentary inquest conducted by county coroner Edward Thomas, it was revealed that Mr Ali had suffered a seizure in the Marlowes Shopping Centre on April 15, which caused him to fall and hit his head.
An ambulance was called for Mr Ali – who had been rushed to accident and emergency for his fits in the past – but when paramedics arrived to the town centre mall he was responsive and had been able to walk and talk normally to shopping centre staff.
On the journey towards Watford General Hospital, however, the young man’s condition took a turn for the worse and when he arrived at 2.10pm he was treated as an emergency.
Mr Ali was transferred to the trauma team at London’s St Mary’s Hospital the same day after a CT scan showed signs of a large extradural haematoma – a traumatic brain injury.
At the specialist site in Paddington he was given surgery to try and relieve pressure on his brain.
But a repeat CT scan revealed irreversible damage and it was not considered appropriate to operate any further.
He continued to receive palliative care at the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he died four days later on April 19.
Mr Ali’s GP at the Bennetts End Surgery Dr Tak Choi confirmed his long-term history of epilepsy and said that he took regular anti-epileptic medication.
A post-mortem was not required ahead of the inquest, which was first opened on April 22.
Mr Thomas recorded a narrative verdict, confirming Mr Ali’s cause of death as an extradural haemorrhage as a result of a head injury, caused after a fall brought on by an epileptic fit.