Inquest demanded into death of UK schoolgirl who died from phobia of the dentist

Eight-year-old Sophie Waller's phobia was so bad that she had to go to hospital just to have a tooth removed.

 

Doctors decided to remove all her milk teeth in one go, to avoid a repeat of the procedure, but afterwards she still would not open her mouth and had to be fed through a tube.

 

When she left the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro doctors were satisfied Sophie was recovering, but her mother says she would not eat anything at home except watermelon.

 

Her weight plummeted and health worsened until she was found dead in her bed by her mother a month later.

 

Yesterday, more than two years after her death from acute kidney failure in December 2005, Sophie's parents Janet Waller, 33, and Richard, 35, demanded to know why an inquest has still not been held into the tragedy.

 

Mrs Waller said: "When she came out of hospital she was obviously losing weight and was very weak.

"Her eyes became sunken - she couldn't walk and we had to carry her.

 

"Then one day I went to her room and found her cold. We called an ambulance but she was already dead.