A CORONER has ruled that a teenage boy who passed away two days after being discharged from hospital had died from natural causes.

Fifteen-year-old Thomas Cowley, from Rainford, was found dead on December 12, 2013, by his father Adrian two days after being discharged from hospital.

The Rainford High pupil had undergone abdominal surgery to treat the inflammatory bowel illness Crohn’s disease earlier in the month.

The inquest, held on Friday, May 15 at St Helens Town Hall heard a post-mortem report from Dr Jo McPartland, of Alder Hey Hospital, which attributed Thomas’ death to a condition called a mitochondrial respiratory chain defect. The report concluded that Thomas' was not related to his treatment in hospital.

However, Thomas’ father Adrian, a 54-year-old managing director of a law firm, challenged the findings, questioning why medications Thomas had taken in hospital were omitted from the report.

He also questioned why findings in another post-mortem were not included in the report.

“We’re not medically telegenic people and we would like to know what’s happened to our son,” he said during the inquest.

“There has been a number of further conclusions and I’m suggesting there’s an inaccuracy with the report.

“This has been a very difficult time for us as a family. As parents we want to know what’s happening. The manner this case has been progressed has been slow.

“To find him dead in bed not even 48 hours after being discharged, we are bound to have concerns with what has happened to our son and whether he was treated well in hospital.”

Dr McPartland said the post-mortem showed Thomas’ death was not linked to the treatment he had received in hospital.

“There is an array of drugs he may have had but I don’t think it’s relevant to the cause of death,” she told the inquest.

Coroner Chris Sumner concluded: “Unfortunately that has to go down as a natural death.

“You probably found it difficult that a 15-year-old died naturally," he added.

“It’s an unnatural thing for a parent to bury a child, it’s probably the most unnatural thing on earth.”