'I can't breathe,' dying teen cried

By ELIZABETH BINNING

Hamilton teenager Stacey Brindle was declared dead four hours after she called out to her mother for help in a scared little voice.

The 16-year-old was lying on her bed, convulsing and frightened, unaware that a small but deadly blood clot was slowly travelling to her lungs.

With each fit, the teenager called out to her mother for help but Glenda Brindle could do little but watch ambulance officers work.

"She was calling out, saying, 'I can't breathe'," recalls Mrs Brindle. "I was saying, 'Come on, you can do it, for mum and dad'. It was just horrible. It was a scared voice that she called out in."

The Waikato beauty contestant was rushed to Waikato Hospital on the morning of May 31, 2002. She was declared dead at 12.10pm after efforts to restart her heart failed.

Coroner Gordon Matenga yesterday issued his finding into Stacey's death, which her family believe was caused by a blood clot triggered by the contraceptive pill Estelle 35D, which she had started taking four months earlier.

Mr Matenga said there was not enough evidence to say for certain if the pill contributed to her death, caused by a pulmonary embolism from deep vein thrombosis.

"Although it is suspected that the deep vein thrombosis was caused as a reaction to the drug Estelle 35D, no specific finding in this regard can be made."

The Brindles have since learned that Stacey, who was not sexually active, went to the Hamilton Family Planning Clinic on January 31 asking for Estelle 35D to treat mild acne.

The nurse who treated Stacey that day took her details and family history, explained how the pill worked and the potential side-effects, including blood clotting.

Stacey asked for her visit to remain confidential from both her mother and family doctor.

Mrs Brindle said Stacey started experiencing a shortness of breath on May 28. She took the popular Hamilton's Fraser High student to see the family doctor two days later, but he could find no explanation for it. Stacey's seizures started the next day.

In his findings, Mr Matenga said Family Planning was entirely within its legal rights to provide the contraceptive pill and that the clinic followed correct protocol. He added, however, that Stacey's life might have been saved had her doctor been told she was taking Estelle 35D.

Mrs Brindle said she had no problem with Stacey going on the pill but felt the risks were not clearly explained to her daughter. "Did they say, 'You can get a blood clot and it could actually kill you'?"

Family Planning spokeswoman Jan Keir-Smith said Stacey's death highlighted "very rare risks" and the difficulty of respecting young people's right to confidentiality.

The contraceptive pill, manufactured by Douglas Pharmaceuticals, is widely used for acne treatment.