Woman died of altitude sickness

Tracy Kennedy was on a trip across South America when she fell ill, Teesside Coroner’s Court heard.

The heartbroken parents of the 37-year-old pharmacist, of Rudyard Avenue, Stockton, said they had lost their best friend as well as a daughter.

Miss Kennedy’s mother Carol said: “She was a very adventurous girl, but this was the first time she had been on a trip like this on her own.

People on the trip said she was quiet but that’s not the Tracy we recognise – she was really outgoing. She was our best – we are a really close family.”

The court heard that Miss Kennedy, an operations manager for Pharmacy 365, had flown to Sao Paulo in Brazil with tour operator Solo’s before travelling into Peru.

Tour guide Kathryn Philp said Miss Kennedy had started to feel ill during the trip, but had self-diagnosed that she had a chest infection.

She visited Machu Piccu, before travelling from Cusco and Puno in Peru and heading across the Bolivian border where Miss Kennedy’s health started to deteriorate.

After collapsing in her hotel room, she was taken to a medical centre in La Paz where she was pronounced dead.

Pathologist Nigel Cooper said Miss Kennedy’s body was embalmed before being returned home for a postmortem examination.

He said: “The most striking find was that the lungs were full of fluid, they were two or three times heavier than what they should be.

“As well as the fluid on the lungs there was signs of swelling to the brain which are both indicators of altitude sickness.”

Dr Andrew Sutton, a consultant at The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrogh, said altitude sickness is a rare occurrence but with early diagnosis the condition can be easily treated with oxygen, medication and taking the sufferer to a lower altitude.

Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield said by the time altitude sickness had been diagnosed it was too late to get Miss Kennedy to a lower altitude.

He recorded a verdict of natural causes.