Woman’s death mystery

Sep 5 2008 by Ben Coulbeck, Chester Chronicle

A WOMAN who shed her skin “like a snake” died in hospital, leaving doctors and specialists puzzled as to the exact cause of her death, an inquest heard.

Gillian Gallagher, 65, from Huntington, suffered a long list of conditions including an alarming low protein level which doctors said “would usually have been fatal”.

A mysterious dermatological problem caused sheets of skin to peel off Mrs Gallagher’s body but despite rigorous testing, the exact nature of the problem remains unexplained.

The court heard Mrs Gallagher, a retired sales manager and heavy smoker, was admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital, where she died on December 5, 2007.

Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said: “The evidence does not allow me to make a decision on the balance of probability. My verdict is that Mrs Gallagher died of natural causes.”