Warwick Davis’ wife’s cause of death revealed with star suffering spinal surgery complications before dying aged 53
THE cause of death of Warwick Davis’ wife’s has been revealed – after it emerged the star suffered surgery complications before her death.
The Harry Potter star announced his partner’s death aged 53 on March 24 last year as he paid tribute to his “favourite human”.
An inquest into Samantha’s death today heard how she died due to arrhythmic cardiac arrest following a major spinal surgery – but experts gave differing opinions about the exact reason.
Samantha had been admitted to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London the month before after suffering semi-paralysis in her legs.
Inner West London Coroners Court was told that she underwent a thoracic discectomy – a surgical procedure to remove a prolapsed disc on February 20.
This involved cutting through her ribs and deflating and reinflating her lung.
Following the successful procedure she suffered a haemothorax – a build up of blood in the space between the chest wall and the lungs.
Around 1 litre of fluid was drained and she was transferred to University College London Hospital for observation.
She suffered another haemothorax the following month, but after further surgery she began to improve.
Samantha’s last chest drain was removed on March 23 and she was due to be discharged the next day.
But shortly before midnight, she went into cardiac arrest.
The inquest heard how she was given resuscitation for 53 minutes, before being pronounced dead in the early hours of March 24.
Pathologist Dr John Firth gave her cause of death as left haemothorax due to complications from the surgery.
He told the inquest the amount of blood and clots – over 700ml – were “significant”.
But University College London Hospitals (UCLH) medics disagreed.
Cardiothoracic surgeon Mr David Lawrence insisted a chest x-ray the day before Samantha died had been “satisfactory”.
He told the court it is more likely that CPR caused the bleed.
Mr Lawrence said he was “puzzled” as to the cause of cardiac arrest, adding: “It’s my true and firm belief that we did everything for her…Her death was unforeseeable.”
Consultant spinal surgeon Mr Adrian Casey, who carried out the thoracic discectomy, also told the inquest this amount of blood loss was “unlikely to cause death”.
He said: “I still think it’s somewhat unexplained. I don’t think it’s a very clear cut cause of death.”
Dr Katherine Hunt, UCLH’s clinical lead for resuscitation, agreed the bleed was more likely to be a result of CPR in her evidence. She said the defibrillator rhythm strip showed signs of an abnormal heart rhythm.
Senior Coroner Professor Fiona Wilcox concluded the cause of death was arrhythmic cardiac arrest following complications after spinal surgical treatment.
She told the inquest: “On the balance of probabilities, the stress of her surgeries and the complications that arose precipitated the arrhythmia.”
Professor Wilcox said Samantha – who had between seven and nine spinal operations in her lifetime – had received “nothing but excellent care” from medics.
She added: “All of her complications were appropriately managed. It’s heartbreaking that the surgery was successful only for complications to arise and cause her death.”
Harry Potter star Warwick, 55, and his family had instructed top medical negligence lawyers to represent them at the inquest.
In a statement issued ahead of the hearing, which was attended by the couple’s daughter Annabelle, they said they hoped it would bring them “answers”.
The family said: “The last year and trying to come to terms with Samantha’s death has been incredibly difficult. However, we hope that the inquest will at last provide us with answers.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kindness and well wishes to us all.”
Samantha was diagnosed with achondroplasia – a bone growth disorder that causes dwarfism – as a child.
She fell extremely ill with sepsis in 2019 after having operations on her spine at University College London Hospital.
Warwick said his wife’s mobility had become impaired but she remained “determined it would not impact her quality of life”.
Samantha – founder of dwarfism charity Little People UK – met Warwick in 1988 on the set of Disney film Willow.
The couple married three years later and had two children together, Annabelle, 27, Harrison, 21.
Son Lloyd tragically died at just nine days old in 1991 as his lungs were too small to support normal function.
The couple also lost another son, George, when Samantha was 19 weeks pregnant.
Alongside her charity work, Samantha was also an actor and appeared alongside her husband in the final Harry Potter film in 2010.
Paying tribute, Warwick described wife “Sammy” as his “most trusted confidante and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career”.
The Tenable host added: “She was passionate about helping people, without judgement.
“She had time for everyone and a genuine listening ear.”
While the couple’s children said Samantha’s “love and happiness carried us through our whole lives”.
Warwick played both Professor Flitwick and the goblin Griphook in all eight films in the Harry Potter franchise.
He also played the role of several characters in the Star Wars film series and appeared on series three of An Idiot Abroad.
In a statement released through their solicitors ahead of the hearing, the family said: “We know that the resilience and strength Sammy instilled in all of us will guide us through this difficult next chapter.
“Her love, support, and determination is a legacy we want to continue. ‘Sammy’s Helping Hands fund’, which was set up in her honour, has already had a huge impact on young people in the dwarfism community, and will continue to support families all over the UK moving forwards.
“The last year and trying to come to terms with Samantha’s death has been incredibly difficult.
“However, we hope that the inquest will at last provide us with answers.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their kindness and well-wishes to us all.”