THE death of a young man from Neyland will remain unexplained after an inquest returned an open conclusion.

Twenty-two-year-old Luke Harper was found by his grandmother Betty Wright at her home in Neyland, on July 1, 2018, after a night out with his friends.

Mr Harper visited Withybush hospital two days before his death to have an injury to his ankle examined, which he received tripping on a drain.

While at Withybush Hospital, Mr Harper, encouraged by his grandmother, mentioned that he had been coughing and vomiting up blood.

Over the four-hour inquest, Mr Harper’s family questioned the nurse and doctor who cared for him, as well as the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem.

Mr Harper’s family have previously said they believe he would not have died if he had been admitted to hospital that day.

The family questioned whether Mr Harper’s death could have been related to thrombocytopenia which he had suffered from before.

Thrombocytopenia is a low platelet count that can lead to internal bleeding. A statement by Professor Hay said this was unlikely due to Mr Harper's condition being in remission for many years.

Triage nurse, Cathy Hannay, said she had written about Mr Harper coughing and vomiting blood in her notes for the doctor, highlighting it with asterisks.

During questioning, Doctor Karin Harrington admitted that she could not remember the patient and had failed to mention in her notes what actions had been taken on Mr Harper coughing up blood.

Dr Harrington explained she had written her notes after seeing the patient, but said she would have asked for more information about the issue.

Sophie Thomas, Mr Harper’s aunt said: “If there wasn’t a note then it wasn’t done. The note should be made to cover yourself.”

The coroner, Mark Layton said because it wasn’t written down, they could only speculate whether the questions about coughing up blood were asked.

The pathologist, Dr Daniel Howzer, who carried out the post-mortem, said there was nothing in the autopsy that would explain why Mr Harper was coughing up blood.

Dr Howzer added he believed the cause of death should be listed as "unascertainable".

A toxicology report read out by Mr Layton said that Mr Harper had a blood alcohol reading of 209 per 200ml of blood, slightly over 2.5 times the drink driving limit.

In his summary, the coroner said: "He was seen by the doctor who applied a bandage to his ankle and discharged him. It is unclear then what actions were taken by the hospital in relation to the vomiting of blood.

His doctor could not recall seeing Luke due to the volume of patients she treats day in and day out. She could only say she would have investigated the vomiting of blood further as was the normal practice. There was nothing recorded as to that in the notes.

“This inquest has highlighted the need for professionals to maintain full record keeping."

Mr Layton added: "Following the death, a post-mortem was undertaken, Dr Daniel Howzer cannot say on the balance of probabilities what caused Luke’s untimely death.

"He said there were a number of possible causes but none he could be sure of.

“Unfortunately the inquest has not been able to determine how Luke came by his death.

"The law provides that an open conclusion should be recorded where there is insufficient evidence for the necessary standard of proof. My conclusion is one of an open conclusion.

"It is clear that Luke was a much-loved son, grandson nephew and cousin to those that attended here today and he will be deeply missed.”