A PENSIONER died after a low-risk operation that proves fatal for less than one in two thousand patients.

An inquest was told that Clara Bowker, aged 84, of Scarthwood Close, Harwood, was said to be "as fit as a fiddle" before a hip replacement operation that caused a fatal blood clot in her leg which travelled to her lung.

The coroner ruled that there had been nothing wrong with the surgery and that she was a tragic victim of chance.

Mrs Bowker, a retired receptionist, had the surgery at Wrightington Hospital in Wigan on August 1 because she was suffering pain caused by arthritis.

The inquest was told that she was prescribed a two-week course of aspirin and sent home. She appeared to be making a good recovery following the operation.

Her daughter, Margaret Baron, said: "I was with her every day and she was moving around a lot as she was advised to do by the hospital. She was doing really well."

But on Monday, September 10, Mrs Bowker became breathless and was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital by ambulance. She died later that day.

Dr Nikhil Pradham, specialist orthopaedic surgeon, carried out the original surgery and he said Mrs Bowker had been aware of the risks.

He said: "She signed a consent form and would have been told there was a risk of death although patients often have difficulty grasping the technical causes.

"The risk of dying in this way following this operation is less than 0.02 per cent -- the same as less than one in 2,000.

"Patients are advised to get up and about to help avoid the risk of clots."

But pathologist Dr Stephen Wells said the clot might have started on its fatal journey toward her lungs because Mrs Bowker started being mobile again.

"It is a Catch 22 situation and there is no cure for clotting," he said.

Mrs Bowker's son, John, claimed at the inquest that Mrs Bowker had to wait eight hours for a hospital bed on the day of her death but he does not intend to pursue this with the hospital.

"It was just one of those things. I wouldn't advise people against having the operation if they are in pain," he said.

Mrs Bowker's daughter described her mother as a "real one-off":

"She was just brilliant, she would do anything for anybody. Before the operation she was as fit as a fiddle carrying her shopping around town."

Coroner Jennifer Leeming recorded a verdict of misadventure and the cause of death as a blood clot in her right leg.

"I am satisfied from what I have heard that the surgery was entirely satisfactory," she said.

"It is most unfortunate if not tragic that the small risk associated with this operation came true for her."