A WATERSIDE man is believed to have died from the affects of a wasp sting he suffered ten months earlier.

Neville Hayward had been in perfect health but suffered what is known as an anaphylactic shock after the sting.

He was then taken to hospital and prescribed with adrenaline to inject himself in the event of another reaction. But an inquest in Southampton heard that in July, ten months later, he suffered another reaction and despite attempts to revive him by paramedics he never regained consciousness.

Mr Hayward, 36, of Spratts Down, Fawley, worked as a cablemaker for Pirelli in Eastleigh.

His mum Vera told the hearing that in the days before his death her son had been off work and was being referred to a specialist to find out why he was having shocks.

Mrs Hayward said that at about 8.45pm on July 23 she had a worrying phone call from her son saying he "was going into another one of those things and he was going to give himself an injection." Mrs Hayward called an ambulance and immediately went home, where an ambulance crew was already working on her son, who did not recover.

Pathologist George Millward-Sadler told the hearing it was very difficult to determine the cause of death.

He said: "Possibly he may have had an abnormal heart rhythm, but it's very difficult to detect. There was not an unnatural cause of death, but it's not possible to find out what the natural cause of death was.

"There was heart failure, but the cause of it is not apparent."

When questioned by the family, Dr Millward-Sadler said his death could have been caused by an anaphylactic shock.

Southampton deputy coroner Gordon Denson recorded a verdict of death from natural causes.

After the inquest, Mrs Hayward described her son as "a son to be proud of."

"He had no enemies and he would do anybody a good turn and never harm anyone. The church was packed at his funeral and there were people standing all along the sides," she said, adding that her son was a keen carpenter who had built an extension to their home and was also very keen on sea and freshwater fishing.

And she was full of praise for her son's workmates at Pirelli, particularly when he had his first attack.

"They had a paramedic there to treat him when he had his first attack and they have been marvellous all the way through," she commented.

Jonathan Hourihane, a consultant in paediatric allergy at Southampton General Hospital, said anaphylaxis was a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction.

He added: "It's usually caused by somebody having anti-bodies to the proteins and they have developed usually from previous exposure, so when the body meets those proteins again there is a massive over-reaction.

"Fluids leak out of their blood valves and their breathing tubes become narrow. They get choking, they can get a feeling of something stuck in the back of their throat and they can wheeze or they can get a bad cough. "They can feel weak and then they collapse."