Doctors missed warning signs
An inquest has been told that a series of doctors and nurses failed to act on the signs of the blood clot which eventually killed a 28-year-old dancer and environmentalist months after she had married the love of her life.
Petra Zele died from a blood clot in her lungs in May 2010, after having been initially sent home from Fremantle hospital weeks earlier having complained of pain in her chest.
A nurse and a doctor there both said the pain was likely to be caused by a muscle strain, and gave Ms Zele pain killers and sent her home
But the inquest was told an electrocardiogram carried out on that night, which could have pinpointed the clot, was mislabelled and therefore not seen by the doctor.
Just over two weeks later, Ms Zele complained again of an acute shortness of breath, and went to see her family GP, who conducted more tests which showed serious problems with the dancer's heart and blood flow.
But Kate Ellson, counsel assisting the coroner, said neither the GP or the specialist he contacted told Ms Zele about the potentially deadly diagnosis.
Within 24 hours she was dead, having collapsed on the way to hospital.
The inquest was only called after Ms Zele's mother Jackie wrote to the WA coroner with her concerns.
And this morning, she was too upset to give evidence in a person - but had a moving tribute to her daughter read in court.
"She was always the life of the party, so full of life and high on life itself," her tribute said.
"She was a beautiful soul, and her beauty touched everyone she met. We believe her tragic death was preventable."
Ms Zele, who had a science degree and worked as a sustainability officer with Cottesloe Town Council, was an avid dancer who had never been unwell.
She had married the love of her life, Petros, who she met in Greece, only four months earlier.
Since Ms Zele's death, tests have revealed that her mother, grandmother, uncle and cousins all have an inherited blood clotting disorder.
The inquest is scheduled to run for five days.
