A VIBRANT Worcester woman died from a disorder which rarely results in death shortly after having a knee operation.

Maureen Edwards' husband of 33 years, Michael, told the Evening News that her death from obstructive sleep apnoea came as a huge and unexpected shock.

An inquest yesterday heard that, Mrs Edwards, aged 60, of Tamarisk Close, Claines, died in her sleep at Droitwich Private Hospital.

"I was phoned at 3.45am and told to get to the hospital," said Mr Edwards, aged 57.

"When I got there I was told she had died - it was devastating.

"Since then we have had nine months of anguish and it still hurts."

He described his wife, who was a florist for 43 years, as a strong woman who was full of life.

County coroner Victor Round recorded the death as a cardio respiratory arrest due to hypoxia - or lack of oxygen - brought on by obstructive sleep apnoea in a patient receiving post-operative pain-killers.

Sleep apnoea is a syndrome which involves a person repeatedly stopping breathing during their sleep - a condition which affects hundreds of thousands of people but is almost never fatal.

"It was very unfortunate that this should happen to her," said Mr Round.

Consultant anaesthetist Dr Clive Studd told the inquest that since becoming an anaesthetist in 1969 he had diagnosed just one case of sleep apnoea.

He later told the Evening News that death from the condition was "extremely rare".

Scarring on the heart muscle, having a fatty liver and being obese were also aspects that Mr Round recorded being contributing factors to Mrs Edward's death, on May 30 2003.

Mr Edwards said he was satisfied with the misadventure verdict.