Inquest concludes into death of 23-year-old narcolepsy sufferer

The coroner at the inquest into the death of 23-year-old Peterborough woman who developed narcolepsy after receiving the pandemic swine flu vaccine in 2009 has today returned a narrative verdict highlighting the causal link between the vaccine and the chronic sleep disorder she suffered from.

Nursery assistant Kathryn Clack (“Katie”) developed narcolepsy, a chronic, neurological condition, after receiving the pandemic swine flu vaccine on 8 December 2009 and died on 23 September 2014 after falling from the top of Queensgate car park in Peterborough.

Katie’s family is represented by Peter Todd and Freya Colvin of law firm Hodge Jones & Allen. Speaking on behalf of the family, they say: “Katie was an energetic young woman who had just discovered her passion working with children. Narcolepsy turned her life into a terrible daily struggle and drastically reduced her quality of life. We cannot believe she would have decided to take her own life had the balance of her mind not been disturbed. We feel she was let down by the defective vaccine which caused her narcolepsy.”

Freya Colvin added: “The Clack family has waited a long time for this inquest. It is important that that the coroner has recognised the causal link between the vaccine and narcolepsy and the devastating impact this had on Katie’s short life.”

The text of the narrative conclusion from Acting Senior Coroner for South Lincolnshire, Paul Cooper, is available upon request from Kerry Jack (details below).

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Kerry Jack at Black Letter Communications on 020 3567 1208
kerry.jack@blacklettercommunications.co.uk

Notes for Editors

About Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a rare and incurable neurological condition, thought to be autoimmune in nature, caused by the disruption of the part of the brain that produces hypocretin, a peptide that regulates the sleep cycle. It is estimated that around 31,000 people (one in 2,000) in the UK may suffer from narcolepsy.

For further information see www.narcolepsy.org.uk or please contact Matt O’Neill, Chair of Narcolepsy UK, on 07825354355 / matt.oneill@narcolepsy.org.uk

Hodge Jones and Allen

Hodge Jones and Allen is one of the UK’s most progressive law firms, renowned for doing things differently and fighting injustice.

For almost 40 years’ the firm has been at the centre of many of the UK’s landmark legal cases that have changed the lives and rights of many people.

The firm’s team of specialists have been operating across: Personal Injury, Medical Negligence, Industrial Disease, Civil Liberties, Criminal Defence, Court of Protection, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Family Law, Military Claims, Serious Fraud, Social Housing, Wills & Probate and Property Disputes.

Co-founder Patrick Allen is still at the helm of the firm he co-founded in 1977.

In 2016 the firm launched Hearing their voices – a campaign to raise awareness and build conversations around the issues and the injustices we might all face.