Girl, 5, died after tonsils surgery in Cornwall, inquest hears

A five-year-old girl died after a blood vessel ruptured following a routine operation, an inquest has heard.

Amber Milnes died at Royal Cornwall Hospital on 9 April 2023, four days after her tonsils and adenoids had been removed to help improve her sleep patterns.

Paediatric pathologist Dr Andrew Bamber told the inquest at Cornwall Coroner’s Court on Wednesday Amber had died as a result of “a severe bleed from a ruptured vessel at the surgery site”.

In a statement to the court, Amber’s mother Sereta Milnes said the little girl had been “our magical little princess”.

Amber had suffered from cyclical vomiting syndrome (CVS) which meant she had prolonged periods of severe nausea which could sometimes last for days, the inquest heard.

She had been sent home after the surgery with oral pain relief and anti-sickness medication which she had been unable to take due to the onset of CVS.

Four days after the operation, she was readmitted to hospital but died after she suffered “a massive haemorrhage” from a ruptured blood vessel, Dr Bamber told the inquest.

He said he did not consider the vessel to have been damaged during the surgery but that inflammation and infection had caused the rupture.

The inquest continues.