Inspirational Megan died of natural causes

10:42am Thursday 1st May 2008

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A BUBBLY five-year-old girl who inspired donations to our Guardian Angels Appeal died while having an epileptic seizure, an inquest heard.

Megan Wright, of Acomb, York, who had cerebral palsy as well as epilepsy, and who had received medical care throughout her life, died on December 23 last year at York Hospital.

The inquest heard how Megan's post-mortem examination revealed she had, shortly before her death, been suffering from a cough and increased seizure frequency.

The post-mortem report recorded the cause of Megan's death to be sudden death in epilepsy, and York Coroner Donald Coverdale recorded a verdict of death from natural causes.

We reported earlier this year how a pamper evening organised in memory of Megan raised £1,111 for the appeal, which aims to raise £300,000 to fund a new high-dependency unit in York Hospital's children's ward, where Megan, who lived with her mother, Val, spent a lot of her life.

In addition, £800 from Megan's funeral, her bank account, and Mulberry Hall, in Stonegate, York, was donated to the appeal, and Val yesterday donated £55 to the appeal. Building work on the unit began last week.

The health and well-being evening in Nether Poppleton was organised by Ceri Wright as a tribute to her friend Val's little girl.

She died suddenly in her sleep, leaving her devastated mother determined to support our appeal.

The pamper evening was part of a rollercoaster day of emotions for Val.

Not only was it her first birthday without Megan, it was also the day she found out how her daughter died.

She said earlier this year: "We didn't know for sure how she died until now. The coroner phoned me in the morning to say Megan had died of an epileptic fit.

"We couldn't have done anything about it, it's just one of those things, but I miss her so much.

"This year has been awful and I can't wait for it to be over."

During the pamper evening, more than 15 health and beauty businesses offered their services for free in exchange for donations to the appeal.

There were Indian head massages, Reiki, tarot reading, fashion stalls, face peels, and makeovers for children.