A COMMUNITY leader died shortly after a hospital operation, an inquest heard.
Former Rossett Community Council chairman Norman Venables died, aged 75, at Wrexham Maelor Hospital in August.
An inquest at Mold heard Mr Venables had gone into hospital for an operation as he was suffering from rectal cancer.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded by North Wales East and Central coroner John Gittins.
The inquest heard it was unusual for a patient to die after this particular operation.
Retired engineer Mr Venables, of Alyn Drive, Rossett, was a keen family man and an active member of his community.
The inquest heard Mr Venables was admitted to hospital on July 30 last year, for an operation which sought to help reduce the size of a tumour and involving the emptying of a bowel. But he died in intensive care on August 2.
His widow Margaret said she was told by a male medic at the hospital it was the first time they had known this to happen following this particular operation.
“He told me this has never happened before in all the years he had been doing it,” she said.
“That’s what we want the answer to why had this never happened before?”
Mr Gittins said it was not easy to answer this.
He told the inquest the operation saw a burst take place when a bowel emptied, with an infection developing.
Mr Venables had contracted septicaemia, given as the primary cause of death.
Mr Gittins told family members the verdict of accidental death did not imply it was a of case somebody having done something wrong.
“It appears this was done as they had done things many times previously,” he said.