Teenager died after having his lip pierced

Nov 14 2005

A 17 year old British boy has died after having his lip pierced.

At an inquest into his death the dangers of body piercing were underlined by a coroner following the death of the student from blood poisoning two months after having a ring put through his lip.

The Sheffield inquest concluded that was the most likely cause of Daniel Hindley, 17, falling ill and dying from circulatory failure.

Apparently though Mr Hindley, of Richmond, Sheffield, had a heart defect he was leading a normal life.

Coroner Christopher Dorries, said that any wound carried a risk of infection, and those vulnerable to infection need to understand that it is not just adults trying to stop their fun, there can be very real risks to body piercing.

The jury returned a verdict of misadventure and concluded that Mr Hindley died from complications caused by severe septicaemia.

Mr Dorries is contacting the Health and Safety Executive and the Association of Environmental Health Officers to make them aware of the circumstances of the death in December 2002.

At the inquest Mr Hindley's girlfriend, Naomi Storey, 21, said that she had had her eyebrow pierced at the same time and that the assistant had removed the cap of the needle with her teeth.

Following the hearing, Mr Hindley's mother, Christina Anderson, 44, said she hoped her son's death would make anyone considering body piercing stop and think twice about the risks.