A PENSIONER died after she caught the treatment-resistant bug MRSA following an operation, an inquest was told yesterday.

Vera Day, 76, from Middlesbrough, died from broncho pneumonia in South Cleveland General Hospital after she caught the infection, which is resistant to most antibiotics, and very difficult to treat.

She had an operation on June 4 last year to amputate her right leg and she died ten weeks later in August. She would probably have died of gangrene from blocked leg arteries, but for the operation, the hearing was told.

Mrs Day was admitted to the hospital as an emergency on May 30 for assessment, which found little or no blood supply to the leg and recommended above-knee amputation.

The Central Teesside Deputy Coroner, Gordon Hetherington, recorded a verdict of misadventure on Mrs Day, of Chevin Walk, Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough.

He told relatives; "The sequence of events seems to be a seriously ill lady receiving treatment, but no doubt, due to her weakened condition, she became infected with MRSA which ultimately led to broncho pneumonia which led to her death."