A "truly beautiful" young woman who suffered a fatal respiratory collapse due to her long-term use of "laughing gas" inhaled more than 200 canisters of the party drug every day, an inquest heard today.

Business student Ellen Mercer was rushed to hospital after suffering a "sudden cardio respiratory collapse" on February 10.

The 24-year-old woman from Gerrards Cross, died at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough after calling 999 saying she was "unable to get up" and "breathing hard". 

At an inquest into her death today, coroner Heidi Connor heard how Ellen would order 600g cylinders of nitrous oxide online and have them delivered to her home where she would consume as many as three of those bottles a day.

Ellen died as a result of the use of nitrous oxide and immobility which led to the development of pulmonary embolism, the coroner ruled.

Mrs Connor said the death of Ellen "shows how hugely dangerous it is to use nitrous oxide."

She said: "Ellen Mercer had been using nitrous oxide for about six months, using two large canisters a day.

"The drug significantly reduced her mobility, which put her at a higher risk of developing blood clots.

"On February 9, 2023, she was taken to Wexham Park Hospital and remained in the emergency department until she died.

"She developed a sudden and very large pulmonary embolism which caused her death.

"This was almost 24 hours after arriving at the emergency department."

Dr Gareth Roberts, a respiratory physician, had told the coroner during the inquest: "It seems entirely appropriate that nitrous oxide is included [as a cause of death] because ultimately, that would have contributed to a reduction of mobility and a thromboembolism having occurred."

Ms Connor also voiced concerns with regards to the fact that Ellen was not risk-assessed for thromboembolism when she arrived at the emergency department of the hospital - nor at any time in the 24 hours that she stayed in the department.

Although the young woman did not present obvious symptoms of deep vein blood clots when she arrived at Wexham Park, she was at a higher risk of developing them due to her drug use and the paralysis that it caused.

The inquest was told earlier that such assessments tended to be carried out in specific wards after patients are triaged - not in an emergency department where Ellen stayed for 24 hours until she died.

Mrs Connor said: "I have found that the failure to carry out a venous thromboembolism (VTE) assessment did not cause Ellen's death - but it could be different for other patients.

"Pulmonary embolism is not an uncommon cause of death and I do think this is very likely to be a national issue.

"I am aware that doctors are extremely pushed and I take my hat off to all those working in such a pressured environment. But it may not be as important an issue if patients could be treated more quickly.

"Sadly, this is not the world that we live in."

The coroner also decided to issue a Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths to make VTE assessments can be carried out in emergency departments nationally.

The report will be addressed to the Frimley Health Foundation Trust, NHS England, the Royal College of Emergence Medicine, and the Royal College of Physicians.