A 79-year-old pensioner died after surgeons left a swab inside her, following an operation at Southend Hospital in Essex.

The Daily Mail reports that Iris Cole suffered organ failure and died in January 2009 – nine months after the swab was left inside her after surgery. Her case has just been made public as the result of a request from a local newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act – the request revealed three cases of swabs having been left in patients treated at the hospital in 2008.

Mrs Cole’s daughter – Christine Grindrod from Hullbridge in Essex – has condemned the surgical error as ‘disgraceful’ and said her mother was fit until the incident.

Mrs Cole was admitted to Southend Hospital in August 2007 as an emergency case and had part of her appendix removed, as well as her gall bladder.

The surgery appeared to be successful, but she developed fever and abdominal pain in May 2008 and returned to the hospital for more tests. An X-ray showed that an abscess had formed where a gauze surgical swab had been left inside Mrs Cole, following her surgery in August 2007.

Mrs Cole – who had six children – had an operation to remove the swab and returned home in June 2008. However, her condition deteriorated and she underwent further surgery to remove part of her bowel. She died on 9 January, 2009.

A week after her funeral, her 83-year-old husband Albert died unexpectedly. Their daughter blames her father’s death on the stress of losing his wife. Mrs Grindrod said:

'Dad died when a stomach ulcer burst, but I am sure it was the stress of what happened to mum that caused it. In a way it way it was a godsend, because he didn't want to go on without her.' 

A pathologist recorded Mrs Cole’s death as 'organ failure'. An inquest has yet to be held.

Another woman who had a swab left inside her after giving birth has settled with the hospital trust out-of-court. She had passed the swab naturally one month after the birth.

A spokeswoman for Southend Hospital said Mrs Cole’s death 'was not necessarily as a result of the incident' – and added that events such as swabs being left inside patients should be viewed in the light of the 'vast number' of surgical procedures carried out at the hospital every year.

Director of nursing at Southend Hospital, Sarah Ballard-Smith, said:

'Our chief executive John Gilham wrote to Mr Albert Cole on 15 July, 2008, giving an explanation of the event and apologising fully for Mrs Cole's experience and the distress caused.’

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