Mother of Hannah Witheridge tells inquest of heartache after other daughter dies while pregnant
The mother of murdered Norfolk backpacker Hannah Witheridge has spoken of her heartache of losing two daughters in five years.
Sue Witheridge gave evidence at the inquest into the death of Hannah's sister Laura, who died in 2019 from complications after an earlier operation. She was pregnant at the time.
Her death came five years and a day after 23-year old Hannah's body was found on a beach in Thailand.
Laura Daniels, 30, of Great Yarmouth, died at Southampton General Hospital on September 16 2019.
An inquest in Portsmouth, attended virtually by her widower Lewis Daniels and parents Tony and Sue Witheridge, heard that Mrs Daniels had surgery in 2011 for the rare condition trigeminal neuralgia, which causes facial pain.
Robert MacFarlane, consultant neurosurgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, said the operation involved making an opening in her skull to access the nerve.
He said Mrs Daniels had a "variety of problems" afterwards, including spinal fluid leaking through the wound, and she required multiple operations.
Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, area coroner for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, summarising Mr McFarlane's evidence, said: "Laura had a relatively rare condition, particularly for someone of her age, for which the options are medication, which some people don't get on with, or surgery.
"The surgery was effective but she did experience complications."
Mr McFarlane said Mrs Daniels had been "concerned about the potential side-effects (of medication) were she to start a family in the future".
She started treatment at Southampton General Hospital from 2015, having her first admission while she was a student locally.
Aabir Chakraborty, consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital, said she was treated for hydrocephalus - a build-up of fluid in the brain.
He said: "It just felt so unfair that she kept on having these troubles."
Asked by the coroner if he was shocked by Mrs Daniels's sudden death, he said: "I will be honest, I was quite devastated. It was awful."
He said Mrs Daniels was pregnant at the time.
He said he did not know what caused her death and, addressing Mrs Daniels's family, added: "I just want to say sorry."
A post-mortem examination recorded Mrs Daniels's cause of death as unascertained.
Mrs Rhodes-Kemp adjourned the inquest until August 11 to hear written evidence and to reach a conclusion, as there was insufficient time to do so on Monday.
Mrs Witheridge wept at one point in the hearing and said: "You lose one daughter, you don't expect to lose another."
The body of Laura's sister, Hannah Witheridge and that of 24-year-old David Miller, from Jersey, were found on the resort island of Koh Tao in 2014.
They had arrived in Thailand separately and met at the hotel where they were staying.
Two Burmese migrants who were convicted over the killings had their death sentences reduced to life imprisonment in 2020.
Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin had denied killing Mr Miller and raping and killing Miss Witheridge.
Lawyers for the two men had claimed evidence used in the case against them was mishandled and they made confessions under duress that they later retracted, raising questions about police competence and the judicial system in Thailand.
Human Rights Watch at the time called the verdict "profoundly disturbing", citing the defendants' accusations of police torture that were never investigated and questionable DNA evidence linking them to the crime.
But Thailand's Supreme Court upheld the convictions.