On 30 August 2018, 55-year-old Denis Yves Marie Fernand Benesteau boarded a ferry from Granville with his wife, while holidaying around Mont-Saint-Michel.
States police coroner’s officer Tony Forder told the inquest how during the morning Mr Benesteau had complained of a pain in his leg, which later progressed into aches and pains all over his body.
A short time after that he collapsed in King Street and paramedics were called. They found him to be cold and sweaty, the inquest heard.
Mr Benesteau was then said to be uncooperative with the paramedics and just wanted to get on with his day and go on a coach trip round the Island with his wife.
But after getting him into the ambulance, Mr Benesteau became unresponsive and was taken to hospital.
On arrival at the Emergency Department he went into cardiac arrest and later died. Staff worked to save his life for around two hours, the inquest was told.
Mr Forder also said that Mr Benesteau had no diagnosed medical conditions, was fit and healthy, did not smoke or drink alcohol and had no allergies. The officer described the death as ‘very much unexpected’.
He added that the last time Mr Benesteau had visited his GP was for an unrelated ache in his
back.
The inquest also heard evidence from Dr Miklos Perenyei, a pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination on 4 September.
He said that Mr Benesteau’s blood vessels were very weak and may have ruptured and it was likely that this caused his death.
He said: ‘It is a rather unfortunate condition and the whole artery system would have been affected.
‘With regards to detection, unless it already happened within the family and it was raised with a doctor, there would have been no way of finding it.
‘Unfortunately, a post-mortem diagnosis would have been the only way [of finding it].’
Dr Perenyei then recommended that Mr Benesteau’s family were screened for the same condition.
Deputy Viscount Advocate Mark Harris accepted Dr Perenyei’s findings and concluded that Mr Benesteau died from a condition known as coronary artery dissection.
‘I would just like to say how very sad it is to hear of the demise of Mr Benesteau due to a very rare degenerative disorder, and the effect it had on an apparently fit and healthy man,’ he said.
‘It is not something that he would have been aware of. Sadly, this is just one of nature’s tragic things.
‘I would like to express how very sorry I am to his family.’
Advocate Harris also expressed his thanks to French Consul David Myatt for his assistance in liaising with medical professionals in France and Mr Benesteau’s family.
