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West Yorkshire man died from blood poisoning after pet dog bite
A caring West Yorkshire dad died from a freak injury after being bitten by his pet dog during a playful game of fetch.
Tragic Steven Sewell, 55, was enjoying a holiday in the Scottish Highlands with his wife Angela and teenage son David when his 10-year-old pooch Judy bit him on the finger as he prepared to throw a stick.
The retired teacher thought nothing of the small wound - but he soon began complaining of shivers and sickness.
He was taken to hospital where doctors discovered the cut had become seriously infected, and he died a few days later after the blood infection spread to his brain.
An inquest heard how Steven, of Hipperholme, known by his middle name of Kim, had been fishing with his son and was throwing sticks for the dogs.
He was playing with his doberman, Harry, and partially blind Alsatian-Doberman cross Judy in Grantown-on-Spey near Inverness in May when Judy accidentally bit his finger as she jumped to take a stick.
Steven felt the bite go through to his bone and wrapped it in toilet roll but as he felt fine did not treat it.
But six days later Angela and David, 17, became increasingly worried as the loving husband and father complained of feeling hot and experiencing "strange dreams".
The family headed home, but Steven's condition worsened as he began suffering from diarrhoea and losing the feeling in his fingers. It was thought he was suffering from heat exhaustion so he was taken to hospital but was transferred to intensive care as doctors discovered he had contracted septicaemia from the dog bite.
This led to inflammation of the brain - known as encephalitis - and he died in the early hours of May 31 from organ failure - just a weekafter the apparently innocent bite.
Speaking after the inquest, his wife of 21 years, Angela, said Judy had been with the family for two years, was not a vicious dog and was still the family pet.
She said: "He wasn't concerned about the bite at first and only put a plaster on some time later. It was not vicious. It was just bad eyesight and tragic, but you have to accept it and move on. He was very caring, he would give everything away. He was so kind."
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Coroner Roger Whittaker called it "almost a fluke situation."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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