Heart girl dies after baby care

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A student who was born with a heart condition died after a stressful night caring for a fake baby as part of her course, her father has said.

Danielle Pilot, 16, of Worthing, West Sussex, died on 5 December 2008.

Danielle's father David said she complained of extreme tiredness after 12 hours with the doll provided by Northbrook College in Worthing.

The West Sussex coroner recorded she died from natural causes as a result of arrhythmia, at an inquest on Monday.

'Heart racing'

Danielle recorded in her log book that the simulation baby had woken her every hour of the night as she looked after it for her child development course, Mr Pilot said.

He noticed that she appeared pale and stressed and her heart was racing the following morning.

He called her college to inform staff she could not continue with the project and returned the doll.

But when got home at about 1300 GMT, he found his daughter was cold and pale. She was taken to Worthing Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

It could have happened at any time David Pilot, father

Mr Pilot said: "She was like any person who had just become a new mother and been looking after a baby for a long time.

"But at the end of the day we don't know for certain whether that caused her death. It could have done but we simply don't know for certain.

"It could have happened at any time, it could have happened if she was kayaking down a river at some point."

Danielle had suffered a rare congenital problem since birth, which meant her heart was on the wrong side of her chest, back to front and had two holes in the pumping chamber.

The inquest into Danielle's death heard that stress from looking after the doll could have worsened her condition but that it would be "speculative" to conclude it was a definite cause.

In a statement, Northbrook College said: "Danielle's tragic death was a shock to the college and a matter of great sadness for us."