A student with a congenital heart condition died after a stressful and tiring night looking after a fake baby.
16 year old Danielle Pilot from Worthing died on 5 December 2008. Her father David said she complained of extreme tiredness after 12 hours with the doll where according to her log book the simulator baby had woken her every hour of the night. Danielle was looking after the baby as part of her child development course at Northbrook College.
The West Sussex coroner recorded she died from natural causes as a result of arrhythmia.
Mr. Pilot noticed that Danielle was pale and stressed and her heart was racing the following morning. He returned the doll and informed college staff that his daughter could not continue with the project.Dead on ArrivalBut when he arrived home at about 1pm, he found his daughter was cold and pale. She was taken to Worthing Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Mr Pilot said: "She was like any person who had just become a new mother and been looking after a baby for a long time." Danielle had suffered a rare heart problem since birth, which meant her heart was on the wrong side of her chest, back to front and had two holes in the pumping chamber.
The inquest into Danielle's death heard that stress from looking after the doll could have worsened her condition but that it would be "speculative" to conclude it was a definite cause.
Northbrook College issued a statement saying: "Danielle's tragic death was a shock to the college and a matter of great sadness for us."
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