This Is Cheshire

Army major died in agony at his home

From the Guardian Series, first published Wednesday 19th Mar 2003.

The family of an Army major, who never recovered after serving in the Gulf War, have now been waiting two years for confirmation of the disease that killed him.

Major Ian Hill's widow Carole believes he died of Gulf War Syndrome, brought on by a cocktail of immunisations given to troops in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 conflict.

But this week the coroner's office, which is currently collating information surrounding Major Hill's case, said it still had no idea when his inquest would be heard.

"I'm afraid there is still no date as the file is still incomplete," said a spokesman. "As far as I know there are medical notes that are still outstanding and unfortunately until they are received a date cannot be set."

The 54-year-old father-of-four died at his home in Woodlands Drive, Knutsford, in March 2001 after a 10-year illness.

In August coroner Nicholas Rheinberg told the Knutsford Guardian that a senior officer was in charge of gathering evidence for the inquest from the Ministry of Defence so a conclusion could be reached swiftly and a date finally set.

But seven months on the family are still waiting.

Major Hill, who fell ill while serving in Saudi Arabia, was airlifted home with 'untreatable pneumonia'.

His condition then got progressively worse.

He developed emphysema followed by Tolsa-Hunt Syndrome, which causes massive inflammation behind the eyes, before suffering from Q-fever. On Thursday a spokesman for the National Gulf War Veterans and Families Association, which has more than 2,500 members and wants the Government to recognise the syndrome, said Major Hill's case was different to many of the thousands they had already dealt with.

"I personally do not know of any veteran in our association who has died and whose family has had to wait this long for an inquest," she said.

"But to be honest I don't know any case where Gulf War Syndrome has been put down as the cause of death."

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