A STUDENT tragically died after an epileptic fit at his Birkby home.
David Mark Humphreys, 23, had a history of epilepsy which he had always been able to manage.
But on January 15 this year his girlfriend discovered him lying on the floor of his bedroom, with blood on his face.
At an inquest into his death yesterday at Huddersfield Coroner’s Court, Roger Whittaker ruled that although a postmortem was inconclusive, he believed Mr Humphreys, known as Mark, had a fit which led to his death.
Just days before he and girlfriend Rebecca Metcalfe had celebrated their third anniversary together.
But she had been unable to see him in the days before his death because of the heavy snowfall.
The student moved to the town from North Wales in 2005 when he started a course in computer design at Huddersfield University.
He worked as a barman at the Spinks Nest in Birkby and lived with two friends at Clement Street.
His girlfriend Rebecca said in a statement: “He suffered fits on an irregular basis, sometimes he’d go months without one then have a few. I once witnessed him having eight to 10 fits in his sleep.”
On Friday, January 8, the couple had been out celebrating their anniversary together.
That was the last time she saw him before discovering him at his Birkby home on the afternoon of January 15.
She said: “I tapped him on his shoulder but he didn’t respond. I became hysterical and ran to get help.”
Sadly, the student had already died.
A postmortem was inconclusive and Dr Richard Knights ruled that patients with epilepsy were at risk of sudden death with no trauma or evidence of a seizure.
The coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.
