THE FAMILY of a man who died following a road accident in July believe a mystery bug at Warrington Hospital led to the death of their son.

Prison administrator Paul Walton, aged 30, of Cinnamon Lane North, Cinnamon Brow, died a month after being hit by a car in Delph Lane.

He died a month later in Warrington Hospital from multi-organ failure but an inquest in December failed to return a verdict on his death.

Pathologist Dr. Dilshad Shareef presented evidence that Paul had died from multi-organ failure due to Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) at the re-opened inquest last week.

The illness is linked to prolonged spells on a ventilation machine, which Paul was placed on for treatment a fractured skull suffered in the accident.

Although his family accepted Paul death was due to ARDS, they believe that it was due to a problem with the ventilation system and not his head injury.

Father Roy Walton told the inquest: "Paul was on the mend from his head injury and all the medical staff who treated him told us so.

"Then one day they informed us that he had a mystery infection which they didn't know what it was and he began to deteriorate," he said.

Mr Walton also said that the ventilator unit used originally to treat his son was removed and 'sterilised' and that other patients on the same ward were also suffering from the same infection.

He added: "Paul was a long distance swimmer and had the best pair of lungs in this town. We refuse to believe that it was the head injury that ultimately caused his death because he was getting better."

Coroner John Hibbert adjourned the inquest for a second time to gather evidence from medical staff who treated Paul. A date has yet to be fixed.

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