A MUCH loved young woman who “touched many people’s lives” died of an extremely rare and complex medical condition, an inquest heard.

Gemma Louise Dove, 33, died of multiple organ failure on October 23, 2015 after a contracting the genetic disease Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS).

Recording a verdict of natural causes, Dorset Coroner Rachael Griffin expressed her concern in the delay for hospital staff to assess Miss Dove prior to her death.

On October, 9 2015 Miss Dove, from Bridport, suddenly fell ill, and although medical advice was sought, her symptoms seemed to be no more than a stomach bug.

When she was still unwell on October, 17 Miss Dove was admitted to Dorset County Hospital, but, as she was autistic, she refused to be touched or physical examined by staff.

Four days later, on October 21, she was given a general anaesthetic so she could be examined and tests revealed she was suffering with the life-threatening illness.

Mrs Griffin said that while Miss Dove died of natural causes her role was to determine whether the delay in diagnosis or treatment caused or contributed to her sudden death.

Dr Coralie Bingham, a consultant nephrologist at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, was asked to conduct and independent review of the of the care Miss Dove received.

Giving evidence at the inquest she said: “It is a very aggressive condition with a 25 per cent mortality rate even at early stages.

“Because this condition is so severe, and has such a high mortality rate, if she would have been diagnosed a few days earlier I can’t say that there would have been a different outcome.”

The inquest heard that a number of doctors saw Miss Dove over the four-day period in which she could have been receiving treatment, but failed to listen to advice that a general aesthetic was necessary to conduct tests.

Head of risk management and quality assurance at the DCH NHS Foundation Trust Mandy Ford told the inquest that since then significant steps had been taken to trains staff in such circumstances.

Mother Lesley Dove said: "We do very much hope that this will change things for the future for any other parents, because, from a family point of view, it’s extremely important things are put right and [autistic patients] receive the same treatment as any other young person."

The coroner said she could be sure if Miss Dove’s death could have been prevented in hindsight but given the evidence presented it was not probable.

Talking to Miss Dove’s parents, she added: "I do acknowledge that if she had been diagnosed earlier, there could have been a better plan in place for her end of life care and I am genuinely sorry for how your family has suffered.

"She touched many people in her life. As a young lady she was very active and sociable and brought a great joy to those around her.

"I have been reassured that concerns I did have coming into this inquest have been addressed by the Dorset County Hospital Trust and action has been taken to make sure we never face this situation again."