A homeless man who lived a ‘chaotic life’ died aged 51 after suffering a tear to his oesophagus. Wayne Moran's long-term use of class A drugs is 'likely' to have contributed to his death, an inquest heard.
Wayne worked as a baker at Greenhalgh's, in Horwich, after leaving school but eventually became homeless and addicted to heroin, committing “minor crimes” to fund his habit, Bolton Coroner’s Court was told.
Throughout the years, he suffered a number of health problems, including chronic kidney disease and hepatitis C - which led to him losing his right eye. In May of this year, he was admitted to hospital after complaining of neck pain and was diagnosed with an epidural abscess, for which he was given antibiotics and kept in for observation.
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Dr Gopalakrishnan Deivasikamani, from Royal Bolton Hospital, told the inquest that he reviewed Wayne on June 22, two days before his death. He said that Wayne was “stable” and that his Early Warning Score was zero. However, in the early hours of June 24, Wayne deteriorated “very quickly” and vomited twice at around 2am. He was pronounced dead at 4.01am.
Pathologist Dr Ravindra Sawant carried out a post mortem on Wayne’s body and found that he died after suffering an ‘acute upper gastrointestinal tract haemorrhage’, caused by a tear of the ‘gastroesophageal junction’.
Area coroner Prof Dr Alan Walsh asked whether, on the balance of probabilities, Wayne’s previous drug use contributed to the tear that caused the haemorrhage. Dr Sawant agreed that this was likely to be the case, with Wayne’s hepatitis C and epidural abscess also given as contributory factors.
PC Steven Wildman of Greater Manchester Police told the hearing that Wayne lived a ‘chaotic life’ and was known to commit 'minor crimes' to help fund his addiction to heroin and amphetamines. Denise Holcroft, a service manager at social enterprise The Big Life Group, said of Wayne: “He had the desire to change but I think because the lifestyle was so long standing, it was just too big a mountain to climb.”
Recording a narrative conclusion, Prof Dr Walsh said: “For the last years of his life, he was living on the street, he was sofa surfing and was of no fixed abode. He may well have had an intention to change but was so enveloped by his life on the street and social contacts that he couldn’t change his way of life.”
He added: “Wayne Christopher Moran died as a consequence of naturally occurring disease, contributed to by the use of intravenous drugs.”
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