A teenager died of cardiac arrest due to constipation that developed after she went eight weeks straight without defecating.
Emily Titterington, 16, who had mild autism, suffered from toilet phobia and, according to The Mirror, she would usually go on without relieving herself for two months. Eventually, the bowel increased in size, compressing the chest cavity and displacing her other organs.
An autopsy performed on Emily revealed that she suffered from a "massive extension of the large bowel" that resulted in her heart attack.
When Coroner Emma Carlyon asked pathologist Dr. Amanda Jeffrey to describe how severe Emily's condition was, Jeffrey responded that it was unlike anything she had encountered before, adding that what happened to the girl was "dramatic."
A three-day inquest that ended Wednesday heard that the teenager's condition could have been improved if treatment was given, but the girl refused medical help every time.
Reports also stated that Emily's mother would beg her to let doctors check on her condition, but still the teenager refused. Doctors also prescribed laxatives, but she didn't take them, as reported in The Mirror.
In a statement at the inquest, Brian Herbert, Emily's brother-in-law, said the family had tried different ways, including homeopathic pills, to relieve the teenager of her condition.
According to Jeffrey, Emily's symptoms coincide with those of a condition known as stool withholding, a bowel condition commonly experienced by children and result in a fear of toilet usage.
Jeffrey said a person could have toilet phobia or feel that they couldn't use the toilet facilities in other places. The fear then turns defecation into a painful experience.
Emily collapsed on February 8, 2013 at her own home in St. Austell, Cornwall. Paramedics tried to save her, but she was pronounced dead at the hospital.
