A PERSON with Down's Syndrome died after choking on her breakfast, an inquest was told yesterday.

Freda Jackson, a resident at the Middleton Hall residential home, Middleton St George, died on December 1.

The 59-year-old had been fed a liquidised cooked breakfast, containing bacon and scrambled eggs by a carer at the home when food became lodged in her throat.

Staff tried to save her life by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre but could not dislodge the food. Miss Jackson was put in the recovery position until paramedics arrived and transferred her to Darlington Memorial Hospital where she died.

Nursing care manager at the home, Jacqueline Cardus, told the Darlington inquest that Miss Jackson had previously had difficulty swallowing food.

She said: "She was finding swallowing food increasingly difficult.

"In the past six weeks she had had a couple of choking bouts. We had been successful getting the food out, obviously it had just been in the back of her throat."

Darlington and South Durham Coroner Colin Penna heard that because of the effects of Down's Syndrome, Miss Jackson had an enlarged tongue and a flap of skin at the back of her throat which made eating difficult for her.

Dr Ursula Earle, a pathologist at Darlington Memorial Hospital, said Miss Jackson, who had lived at the residential home for four years, died from asphyxia.

The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.