The mother of a young woman who died after her Addison’s disease went undiagnosed by doctors and specialists says there needs to be more awareness of the disorder, an inquest hears.
Jessica Martin, who enjoyed sport and dance classes, lost 20 kilograms off her small frame in the five months leading up to her death in July 2009.
Her mother, Marlene Martin, said “it should never have happened”.
“After Jess died I put every single symptom she suffered into Google — lethargy, dizziness, muscle weakness, stomach cramps and weight loss — and it came back with Addison’s disease,” she said.
Martin’s death is the subject of a coronial inquest.
The inquest heard the 24-year-old died two days after being discharged from the emergency department of the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
After presenting with chest pains, the hospital ran a series of tests which came back clear.
Martin was advised she had viral pleurisy and was told to take anti-inflammatories.
Her distraught partner of nine years, Dean Theobold, described how his high school sweetheart deteriorated over the next 48 hours.
“She was told it would get worse before it got better,” he said.
“That’s why we didn’t do anything and just let it get worse.”
Eventually, an ambulance was called but it was too late.
Martin suffered a cardiac arrest on her way to St Vincent’s Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival.
“We couldn’t get answers,” Mr Theobold said.
Ms Martin said she had taken her daughter to see GPs and specialists.
“I knew that even though the tests came back normal there was something wrong,” she said.
“We couldn’t get answers. [Martin] started to doubt she was really sick.”
One specialist suggested her weight loss might be caused by anorexia.
Ms Martin said she hoped her daughter’s death would raise more awareness of the rare endocrine disorder.
The inquest continues.