A Bolton woman died of drug toxicity after collapsing in her home.

Olubunmi Ogunjimi, 48, died at Royal Bolton Hospital in December 2022 after she was found collapsed by a carer at her home on Westgate Avenue, Heaton.

An inquest held at Bolton Coroners Court on Thursday, May 24 heard that Olubunmi, known as Olu, had took a number of medications to treat mental and physical health issues, including for pain and for depression.

The court heard that paramedics responding to the incident found multiple unlabelled bottles of medication in her room and were worried she may have taken the wrong medicine or taken more than she needed.

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Giving evidence, Dr Maria Papaioannou-Moran, an emergency medical consultant at Royal Bolton Hospital, said medical notes showed Olubunmi had low blood pressure, a raised heart rate and a reduced consciousness.

Olubunmi died at 10.20pm after collapsing and going into cardiac arrest, just hours after she arrived at the hospital. A pathologist gave the cause of her death as combined drug toxicity.

Blood tests revealed Olubunmi had a build up of acid in her blood as well as high levels of Gabapentin, a drug used to treat epilepsy and nerve pain.

The results could not be obtained before Olubunmi collapsed so she was not treated for an overdose.

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“I don’t think an overdose was on anybody’s radar,” Dr Moran said.

Olubunmi was born in Nigeria where she studied for a degree in sociology and worked in governance. Her daughter revealed she and her mother had been involved in a car accident in 2009, in which Olubunmi was seriously injured.

Olubunmi lived with depression and anxiety and was seeking asylum in the UK. The court heard contact with the immigration service caused her significant anxiety and stress and she had attempted to take her own life on at least one previous occasion.

Dr Ali Raza Mumtaz, a cognitive behavioural therapist with Bolton Primary Care Services, who had five sessions with Olubunmi said she struggled with feeling of ‘uselessness’ and experienced suicidal thoughts, however, he added she had she did not plan to take her life as her family ‘kept her going.’

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Dr Mumtaz said: “Her daughter was a really strong protective façade.”

The investigation was adjourned to allow Coroner  Peter Sigge to gather further evidence from her carers into the circumstances of her death.

He adjourned the inquest to request statements from Olubunmi’s carers for information on “the circumstances and conditions in which they found Ms Ogunjimi.”