A CAR crash tragedy left a woman in a coma for 12 years before she died.

An inquest in Durham heard that Patricia Whale, 54, of High Spen, near Rowlands Gill, Gateshead, died in May last year at Shotley Bridge Hospital.

She had been admitted to hospital in April 1990 following a car accident that claimed the life of her son Alan, 13, and left her dependent on machinery to stay alive.

The accident happened as Mrs Whale's husband, Graham, was driving her, their two children Alan and Maria, then 15, and Mrs Whale's child by another man, Angela Pratt, 16, home from the Dipton Mill pub.

They were travelling in the family's Ford Escort on the road from Hedley-on-the-Hill, in Northumberland, to Leadgate, near Consett, CountyDurham, when Mr Whale lost control.

The vehicle left the carriageway, rolled over twice and came to rest on its wheels.

The inquest heard how in a statement given at the time of the accident, Ms Pratt, who now lives in Newcastle, said her stepfather had only drunk two pints of beer and that the car had been travelling at 50mph.

She told the hearing that despite her hopes, Mrs Whale had never rallied during her time in hospital.

Despite round-the-clock care she slowly deteriorated - a progression that accelerated in the last few weeks of her life.

Pathologist Dr Paul Barratt said that Mrs Whale died from bronchial pneumonia due to her immobility.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, north Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle said: "It is clearly a most unusual situation, where someone sustained injuries all those years ago but the death occurred some years later.