A mother died from the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis within days of cutting her hand while trying to open a bottle of detergent.

Mary Margaret O'Connell, 67, of Roche Avenue, York, who died on September 12 this year, had been trying to use an old-fashioned tin opener to try and pierce the lid of the bottle.

But her hand slipped leaving her with a two-inch-long cut at the base of her left thumb, which was to lead to her death only a few days later, an inquest in York heard.

By the next day Mrs O'Connell's hand had turned black and blue and was so swollen that she went to see her doctor.

He prescribed an antibiotic and put her hand in a sling but she later collapsed and was admitted to York District Hospital, where her arm was amputated in an unsuccessful attempt to save her life.

A post mortem found that Mrs O'Connell had died of blood poisoning brought on by the killer bug.

York coroner Donald Coverdale recorded a verdict of accidental death on the former Rowntree's process worker and said it was sad that such a seemingly-trivial domestic accident should have led to Mrs O'Connell's death.

Speaking after the inquest held at Friends Meeting House, Mrs O'Connell's son James, said the family had been devastated by her death.

And he also paid tribute to the medical staff at York District Hospital, who had fought keep his mother alive.

"It was just a tragic accident," he said.

"They did everything they could have done to try to save her.

"But it all just happened so quickly.

"All the family have been devastated by her death - it was just so sudden - and the original cut was such a small thing."

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