Actress Samantha Davis, the wife of Warwick Davis, died after suffering a cardiac arrest hours before she was due to be discharged from hospital, an inquest has found.
Mrs Davis, 53, died at London’s University College Hospital on 24 March last year.
She had been admitted six and a half weeks earlier, after a disc prolapse caused a sudden loss of mobility in her lower limbs.
She then underwent a thoracotomy operation – a surgical procedure where the chest wall is opened – on 20 February.
Following a second thoracotomy on 14 March, Mrs Davis’s condition improved and the hospital was planning to discharge her, the inquest at Inner West London Coroner’s Court heard.
However, she went into cardiac arrest at 11.25pm on 23 March, and was pronounced dead at 0.28am on 24 March, after a failed attempt to resuscitate her.
Senior coroner Professor Fiona Wilcox said she was satisfied the cause of death “should be arrhythmic cardiac arrest and complications following left thoracotomies”.
Mrs Davis had achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder which results in dwarfism, “complicated by very severe spinal problems” requiring multiple surgeries from 2016, the coroner added.
The hospital delivered “nothing but excellent care” and all of Mrs Davis’s “complications were appropriately managed”, Prof Wilcox said.
“It is frankly heartbreaking that the surgery itself was successful only for complications to arise and to cause her death,” she added.
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David Lawrence, a cardiothoracic surgeon at University College London Hospitals, said Mrs Davis’s condition had been “progressing well”.
During her hospital stay, she had two surgical chest drains removed – the second on the day she suffered the cardiac arrest, he said.
“Very sadly, on the night this happened, the original plan had been that she would be discharged home the following day,” he told the inquest.
“We had good evidence that this patient had a chest x-ray that was acceptable, very stable observations and this patient did not bleed during the day.”
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Mr Davis, known for his film roles in the Star Wars and Harry Potter series, dedicated his BAFTA film fellowship award to Mrs Davis during an emotional tribute at the ceremony in February.
The couple met on the set of 1988 film Willow. They married three years later and have two children.
They founded the charity Little People UK in 2012 to help individuals with dwarfism and their families.
