Finding into death of Sharon Maree Harris
Deceased
Sharon Maree Harris
Demographics
63y, female
Date of death
2025-10-14
Finding date
2026-01-15
Cause of death
Aspiration pneumonia in a woman with seizure disorder, Down syndrome, dementia and normal pressure hydrocephalus
AI-generated summary
Sharon Harris, 63, died from aspiration pneumonia complicated by seizure disorder, Down syndrome, dementia, and normal pressure hydrocephalus. She was in specialist disability accommodation in Colac. In the months before death, she experienced multiple seizures and functional decline. On 2 October, she was found post-ictal with respiratory distress and transferred to urgent care where she received CPR. Imaging showed worsening hydrocephalus. She had a further seizure with persistent hypoxia and was subsequently palliated. The coroner found no preventable factors or adverse findings. This case highlights the vulnerability of individuals with multiple neurological conditions, severe intellectual disability, and recurrent aspiration risk. Proactive aspiration precautions, seizure management optimization, and early palliative discussion may have been beneficial.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Clinical conditions
Procedures
Contributing factors
- seizure disorder
- normal pressure hydrocephalus
- dementia
- Down syndrome
- intellectual disability
- recurrent aspiration pneumonia
- functional decline
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —