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A devastated mum who discovered her son's body at their family home heard he died from a heart attack while watching a porn film.

An inquest at Woking Coroners' Court was told that Chris Nicholls, 23, of London Road, West Croydon, suffered a cardiac arrest on June 10.

Chris was born with a heart abnormality and died just weeks after open-heart surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, following a heart attack he suffered in April.

Mother Clare Else told pathologist Dr Mary Sheppard, who examined Chris's heart after he died: "Christopher was watching a blue movie when I found him.

"I said to my husband 'I know what's happened. It's got to be a rush of adrenaline because he's got excited'."

Then, Mrs Else asked Dr Sheppard: "Could that have caused cardiac arrest?"

Dr Sheppard replied: "Any kind of excessive stress or excitement could have brought on the ventricular fibrillation arrhythmia [serious erratic heartbeat].

"So, yes, that could have been a factor."

Chris was born with tetralogy of fallot, a congenital heart abnormality that can never be completely cured.

He had open-heart surgery when he was 15 months old and again just weeks before his death after he collapsed near his home.

Described as "very loving and caring" by Jacob, his 15-year-old brother, Chris had Aspergers syndrome, a form of autism that affected his social skills. He also had hearing difficulties.

The family, who almost had to bury Chris without his heart due to problems at the coroner's office, say they are "angry" with the lack of medical information provided by the Royal Brompton after Chris was discharged to the family home in Redhill.

Mrs Else said: "No one at the hospital told me how imminent death could be.

"When I asked for some guidelines on how to care for Chris when he got home they looked at me like I was mad. I was told hardly anything about the arrhythmia and how serious it could be."

Medical staff attempted to induce an arrhythmia after surgery to see if the operation had been a success.

No irregular heartbeat was detected through the tests.

Dr Sheppard, from the Royal Brompton Hospital, told the inquest on Thursday last week: "I examined the heart very carefully.

"Scar tissue was present due to two previous surgeries but the surgeries appeared to be very neat - perfect.

"Chris's hospital files showed they tried to induce an arrhythmia but couldn't.

"Unfortunately, you cannot predict an arrhythmia."

Verdict: Natural causes.

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