Two mums tragically lost their lives due to a bacterial infection after receiving double lung transplants at the same hospital, an inquest will hear on Thursday. Karen Starling, mum of six, and Anne Martinez, mum of two, fell ill with a bacterial infection after double lung transplants in the summer of 2019.
Karen, 54, was being treated for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in May 2019 with the potentially life-saving operation. Sadly the treatment became fatal after she fell ill with pancreatitis following a Mycobacterium Abscessus (M abscessus) infection.
It was later found that 20 other lung condition patients contracted the same infection that summer at Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambs. Karen, from Ipswich, Suffolk, finally lost her battle with the illness in February 2020.
