The family of a “very healthy” woman who died in hospital after developing a blood clot say she should have been given blood thinning medicine.

Ann Pearce, 61, died in the Princess Royal Hospital after suffering a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot.

Her family say that she should have been given blood thinning medication due to a family history of blood clots.

Paying tribute to her mother as a “very family orientated person”, Dr Holly Sutton said Mrs Pearce “lived a very full life”.

At an inquest into Mrs Pearce’s death, Dr Sutton said: “My mum had told me she had a DVT [Deep Vein Thrombosis] in the past.

“She was always the leader of the pack and I know she would have been really on it.”

Mrs Pearce died in the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath six days after a bike crash in Burgess Hill in March 2022.

Dr Sutton described how her mother was “completely immobile” after the crash in which she broke her knee.

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She added that the family had to carry Ms Pearce over a fence and to a car to get her to A&E themselves due to the pressure on the ambulance service.

WhatsApp messages sent by Mrs Pearce while she was in the emergency department said that she spent two nights in the department without a pillow.

She added that the hospital was “in crisis” and “on its knees”.

After being discharged from hospital on March 28 Mrs Pearce was rushed back to the emergency department on April 1, where she suffered a pulmonary embolism and went into cardiac arrest.

She died in the hospital on April 1. A post-mortem concluded that she had died of a pulmonary embolism caused by a Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Mrs Pearce’s family say that she was in “absolute agony” prior to her death and should have been prescribed anti-coagulants due to a family history of blood clots.

Dr Sutton told the coroner’s court that Mrs Pearce’s brother and father both suffered from blood clots.

The inquest, presided over by coroner Joanne Andrews in Horsham, continues.