ACUTE HEART DISEASE

Evening Star, Issue 22032, 18 May 1935, Page 15

ACUTE HEART DISEASE

INQUEST ON WELL-KNOWN RADIO PERSONALITY A verdict that death was due to acute heart disease was returned at the inquest this morning into the death of Adam Esmond Clarke. Mr Clarke, who was proprietor of Station 4ZW, and a very well-known and popular figure in radio circles, was found dead,in bed at his parents’ residence on the morning of May 3. Dr Borne was summoned, out could only pronounce life extinct, the coroner (Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.) later directing that a post mortem, examination he made. The expert evidence tendered at'the inquest this morning definitely • showed that there could be no suggestion that the deceased died from poisoning, and . that the actual cause of death was a form of heart disease very rare in such a young person. (Mr Clarke was only 27 years of age.) Dr D‘Ath, who conducted the post mortem, submitted a detailed report of his examination. He testified that there was no trace of poison, and said that, in his opinion, death was due to acute heart failure the result of the occlulision of one of the main blood vessels supplying the heart muscle with blood. Dr D‘Ath added 'that this was a most unusual case in that he had never seen a person so young suffering from this particular forTn of heart disease. It was a typical example of a cause of death in elderly persons. The Coroner: He being so young, you took, care to see that there was no poisonP . , Dr D‘Ath: Yes, wo took particular care in the chemical analysis, and this excluded the possibility of poison. The Coroner: On first appearances that was suggested ? . Dr D‘Ath: Yes, from the congestion in the stomach my first opinion was that some form of 'irritant poison had been taken. However, when I examined the heart minutely and miscroscopically, I discovered the lesion mentioned. Hugh Donald Duncan, a radio announcer, said that he had been attached to Station _4ZW, of which the was proprietor. Witness went to the studio the evening before the deceased died, and the latter was then complaining of feeling unwell. He said he had pains in his chest, and had experienced similar pains during the week. Witness took over the announcing from him, and suggested that he should go home. The deceased went home in a taxi, but before this was sick. The coroner stated that the deceased was apparently a healthy young man, and when he went home from the studio there was no reason to think that there was anything seriously wrong with him. However, when In’s parents went to call him the next morning they found him dead in bed. Under_the_ circumstances a post mortem examination was necessary. The case was a strange one, in that the complaint of which he died was most unusual in a young man. His Worship found that the cause of death was as stated by Dr D^th.