The
dying breaths of her teenage son will haunt a Teesside Mum forever.
An inquest still has
still to be held on 14-year-old Anthony Iverson, who died in September
last year at his Billingham home.
Heartbroken mum Pauline
Hartley fears his death could remain a mystery forever and be diagnosed as
Sudden Adult Death Syndrome SADS.
She now fears that
whatever killed Anthony could strike down any of her other three children.
Today Mrs Hartley spoke
of how he left his last dying breaths on her answer phone. She was
away for the weekend, and as she slept Anthony called her three times in
the early morning. His last call clicked on the answer phone and
left three minutes of deep heavy breathing before he went silent.
His sister discovered
her younger brother in the morning in bed still holding the telephone to
his ear. His time of death was given as 4.30am.
About four hours before
his death Anthony told his friend his heart felt "heavy" and was
beating fast. He used an asthma inhaler which he hadn't needed for
years.
Mrs Hartley said: "I
don't think he knew he was dying but he must have been in pain and obviously
knew something was wrong to call me at that time.
A year after his death,
Mrs Hartley wrote to MP Frank Cook about the length of time she was
waiting for an inquest. Within a week a coroner's officer called to
her house for more information.
"Anthony had been
dead a year when they came out asking questions about his death and what
happened on the day. It was ridiculous" she said, "we told
them about the answer phone message but they didn't listen to it".
Mrs Hartley and her
children have all had electrocardiogram – ECG – examinations and so far
all results have been negative.
"I want to be
convinced that a thorough post mortem was carried out. We feel like we're
living with a death sentence, not knowing what killed him, and if it can
affect us."
Anthony a year 10 pupil
at Northfield school was described as loving, caring and funny.
A coroners officer
confirmed that a date had not yet been set for an inquest.
Mrs Hartley added: 2I
can't get angry about Anthony dying and I have no-one to blame. I am
still grieving.
"We can't even
start to move on until the inquest is over, but I will never accept it if
I am not told what caused his death."
