Christian Gericke, senior staff specialist in neurology at Metro North Health, told the inquest that Aunt Sherry died of a saccular, or “berry,” aneurysm.
Professor Gericke said aneurysms are like a “pouch in the brain” that can fill with blood and rupture, causing death before a person can be transported to hospital in 25 percent of cases, while another 45 percent of the patient dies within 30 days.
“Aneurysms occur in one or two percent of the population and you would never have known you had it,” Professor Gericke said.
He said there was no evidence that Aunt Sherry had been scanned for aneurysms or experienced the symptoms of a rupture, which consisted of a thunderous headache with sudden and extreme pain, followed by nausea and confusion.
Assistant attorney Sarah Lane asked if Aunt Sherry’s vomiting, which had been linked to her heroin withdrawal symptoms, could be a symptom of a ruptured aneurysm.
‘It’s highly unlikely. She did not have the specific symptoms. She also had diarrhea and goosebumps, which are not aneurysm symptoms,” replied Professor Gericke.
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“In a major hemorrhage, death is very quick … there was nothing (the guardhouse) could have done.”
Multiple police and vigilante officers on duty during the first few days of Aunt Sherry’s custody testified that they had little or no recollection of her beyond custody logs and Queensland Police records.
Senior Officer Martin Baxter, who first took Aunt Sherry into custody, testified that she told him she was not suffering from illness or injury.
