THE family of a four-year-old boy who mysteriously dropped dead have been urged to meet with geneticists to establish if he had an inherited heart condition.
Josh Dillon collapsed after playing in the garden of the Knotty Ash home he shared with mum Clare and grandparents Jackie and George Addison on April 2 this year.
An inquest at Liverpool Coron-er’s Court heard how the young-ster, who attended Broadgreen nursery, had been playing with his friends but had complained of bellyache and had sat on a wall with his friend.
It was as he walked into the house behind his grandad to have his tea that he gasped and collapsed.
His grandmother attempted to resuscitate him and he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Consultant paediatric pathol-ogist Rajeeb Shukla told the court a number of tests had been carried out but there was insuff-icient post mortem evidence to explain Josh’s death but that it may have been caused by a problem with his heart.
He said: “This type of sudden death usually points to electrical activity in the heart which can come on suddenly in any normal looking individual, can only be detected in life and would not leave any marks.”
He said problems with elec-trical activity in the heart could suggest a possible inherited con-dition such as Long QT Syndrome and he urged Josh’s family to meet with the genetics team at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Liverpool coroner Andre Rebello said the cause of death was given as unascertained after post mortem, which possibly suggested cardiac arrest which left no evidence.
In recording a verdict of natur-al causes, he told Josh’s family: “Unlike food in a supermarket, human beings do not come with a use by date. There is a pre-sumption we will all live to old age and that children and grand-children will attend parents and grandparents funerals.
“When something of this nature happens all our hopes, aspirations and wishes for the future are completely destroyed.
“But in all this there is one thing you must hang on to. Josh’s life would have brought his loved ones lots and lots of joy and happiness.”
Speaking after the inquest, Josh’s great aunt Maureen Jones and grandfather George Addis, said: “We wanted an answer to how he died but at least now we know that it was sudden and he was not in any pain.
“It is also a comfort to know that even though he was pronounced dead at hospital he actually died at home.
“This is just one thing we never expected to happen. He was gone so suddenly. He was just a normal four year-old boy, full of fun and laughter.
“Since his death there has been a lot of fundraising in Josh’s memory to raise money for Alder Hey’s bereavement centre and the Imagine Appeal.
“The nursery he attended also plan to put a train in their playground to remember him.”
