A child development officer died after suffering a disabling disease for 20 years.

Samantha Silver, 33, of Lancing Park, Lancing, died at Worthing Hospital on December 19.

Coroner Roger Stone recorded a verdict of death by natural causes at an inquest into her death at Worthing Hospital.

Eileen Silver, also of Lancing Park, Lancing, said her daughter was diagnosed with Still's disease, also known as rheumatoid arthritis, when she was 13, after complaining of stiffness in her ankles and knees.

Mrs Silver said: "It was rheumatoid arthritis, she was bed-ridden within two weeks. She had it all over."

Despite being wheelchair-bound, Samantha earned a degree in psychology at Southampton University before working as a child development officer and at Brighton Society for the Blind.

Pathologist Dr Jeremy Grant said Samantha had died from heart and lung failure as a result of morbid obesity and hypertensive heart disease.

He said: "The steroid therapy she was undergoing would contribute towards her weight."