Parents Shoreham disaster victim also lost their daughter

Bob and Caroline Schilt were still dealing with the aftermath of the 2015 airshow fireball which killed their son Jacob when they found their daughter dead.

Louise Schilt, 34, died at home last April 5 while her parents were visiting her brother’s grave.

Bob said: “I think we cope because we have to.”

“We’ve had to keep going because of everything that’s happened.

“We’ve had to carry on because we’ve had something to fight for,” Caroline said.

Retired teachers from Brighton Bob and Caroline carried on receiving letters and phone calls from the hospital for Louise for weeks after she died.

They received five letters from the hospital trust asking their dead daughter to confirm appointments.

Bob said he spoke to someone from the hospital who phoned to speak to Louise.

“I told them she had died in their care and put the phone down,” Bob said.

Pilot Andy Hill survived the 2015 airshow disaster which killed 11 men.

Jacob Schilt was killed as he travelled to play football for Worthing Utd.

Penelope Schofield, senior coroner for West Sussex and Brighton, who also took charge of the Shoreham Disaster inquest thanked the Schilts for the dignity they have shown through both inquiries.

Caroline and Bob Schilt (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

“Words just escape me,” the coroner said.

“I really just don’t know what to say to you. I just can’t understand how the world can be so cruel to one family. I can’t contemplate the grief you must be experiencing.”

The inquest into Louise’s death, held in Horsham over three days this week, heard Louise was fit and healthy before she contracted a mystery illness in November 2021.

She died in April after an MRI was cancelled when the scanner broke down.

A new one was scheduled seven months later.

Louise had more than five litres of fluid drained from her chest over three visits to the Princess Royal hospital in Haywards Heath.

She died from complications after fluid was drained for a third time.

In a narrative conclusion Ms Schofield said the cause of the condition which resulted in her death has still not been established.

“Unfortunately there had been a delay of over seven months in Louise having the necessary diagnostic procedure of a cardiac MRI to enable those treating her to reach the correct working diagnosis,” the coroner said.

“During this period there were a number of missed opportunities to escalate her care and therefore treat her before there was an acceleration of the disease process.

“She died before she was able to be given any definitive treatment.”

Scarring on the lining around her heart caused it to tighten, causing breathing problems.

Louise was forced to give up work and was almost housebound.

Caroline and Bob Schilt with a photograph of their son Jacob who was one of the 11 people killed in the Shoreham Airshow disaster (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

The condition - constrictive pericarditis - is more commonly seen in people with tuberculosis, the inquest heard, and the diagnosis was only confirmed after her death.

The coroner concluded opportunities were missed by doctors at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath.

Expert witness Professor Gershan Davis told the inquest the seven month wait for an MRI was too long and Louise should have been admitted for tests and observation.

The best chances to discover what was wrong with Louise were missed, he said.

Louise contracted the virus during the Covid crisis.

The inquest heard experts believed the Covid virus and vaccines were unlikely to have played any part in the progression of the illness which killed her.

Covid backlogs also delayed a potentially life-saving scan.

A pathologist told the inquest into the death of Louise he had never seen another case.

Dr David Wright, who performed a post mortem examination, described her heart as very abnormal.

There was fluid collecting in the lining around her lungs and within the lungs, the pathologist said.

There was thickening and fibrosis of the sack which surrounds the heart, he said.

“This is the only case of this I’ve seen in 25 years,” the pathologist said.

“These conditions are rare and poorly understood.”

Caroline described her daughter as the most caring and loving person she has ever known.

Louise was an avid reader, animal lover and a supportive friend who cared more for the welfare of others, her mum said.

She had a tremendous love of animals and easily made special connections with dogs.

The 34-year-old was described as an inspirational person who could best express herself through writing.

She had the courage to be her own person, brave and loving.

“She was my rock when Bob was ill,” her mum said.

“We did so much together.

“The gap she has left in my life is immense and I still can’t believe she is gone.

“She talked and wrote so much about Jacob after he died.

“We found strength in each other,” Caroline said.

“Bob and I must now get used to being two instead of three.

“Our children will be in our hearts forever.”