Clarissa Street was treated as if she was ‘over-reacting’, an inquest heard
10:48, 07 May 2026Updated 16:01, 07 May 2026
Clarissa Street, who passed away in 2024(Image: The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences/Facebook)
A ‘talented’ and ‘outgoing’ woman died after spending over an hour in a corridor at Royal Oldham Hospital while suffering from a pulmonary embolism, an inquest has heard.
Clarissa Street, 24, described by her family as a very well liked, creative and outgoing woman who enjoyed being around people and going to concerts, sadly died in 2024.
An inquest into her death, which is due to last for three days, heard on Wednesday (May 6) that Clarissa passed away on August 14, 2024.
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Clarissa, a University of Manchester graduate who studied Sociology and earned the Dean’s Award for her dissertation, was taken to A&E late on August 13 following spells of dizziness and feeling unwell.
She had previously experienced a provoked pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis in 2017 and had taken blood thinners at different times between then and 2024, the inquest heard.
However, after she arrived at Royal Oldham Hospital, Clarissa was given an oxygen mask that wasn’t connected to anything ‘to try and regulate her breathing’ and spent around an hour in a corridor before being transferred to higher care, the inquest heard.
In evidence given at the inquest, it was heard how a paramedic had suggested that they thought Clarissa was ‘overreacting and having a panic attack’ when she was passed over to triage staff.
However, her condition deteriorated and she died hours later due to pulmonary embolism with a background of fatty liver disease, the inquest was told.
Clarissa went to hospital after passing out
Clarissa, from Castleton, in Rochdale, had been feeling off for the previous two days before her boyfriend called an ambulance on August 13 when she started passing out, the inquest heard. She had been unable to sleep and was struggling to keep food and water down for the days leading up to her hospital admission.
When she arrived at hospital, Clarissa was given an oxygen mask that wasn’t connected to anything to try and ‘regulate her breathing’ and left in a corridor.
Staff Nurse Michelle Neale, the triage nurse working on the night of her death, asked for Clarissa to have an ECG, blood tests and venous blood gas tests. She said the ambulance had told her she was hyper ventilating but they had regulated her breathing by talking to her.
She said she ‘didn’t know’ why she gave her a disconnected mask and accepted she shouldn’t have done it – but said it ‘did regulate her breathing’ and that Clarissa was ‘speaking in full sentences’.
Ms Neale then passed Clarissa onto a more senior nurse and told her she would require a cubicle. However, Clarissa, who had low blood oxygen levels and a high heart rate, was then placed in a corridor for around an hour.
She added that the senior nurse had told her that Clarissa was ‘young so we’ll just keep an eye on her’ when she was put on fluids and left in the corridor.
Ms Neale said: “Normally I would challenge it but Clarissa was talking to me. She could speak to me in full sentences.
“I remember her coming in. She was able to talk to me and she told me that she had been on holiday to the Canary Islands. I went back to Clarissa on the corridor and I asked her had [the oxygen mask] helped her and she said yes.”
She added a more senior nurse said they would give Clarissa some fluids and then reassess her with the view of sending her to an urgent treatment centre.
However, Clarissa was eventually taken to higher care to be treated by a doctor before deteriorating and sadly passing away in the early hours of August 14.
The inquest heard how, based on national guidelines, there was no need for her to be referred to haematology in 2017 at the time of her pulmonary embolism and no need for anticoagulants drugs to be used long term due to her embolism being provoked.
It was accepted that in hindsight a haematology referral and further tests might have helped Clarissa and may have revealed an under lying contributing factor. However, the inquest heard her embolism in 2024 was unprovoked and it ‘cannot be said that the two are linked’.
The inquest began on Wednesday, May 6, at Rochdale Coroner’s Court and is scheduled to last for three days, finishing on Friday, May 8.