Lady Masham died from sepsis after being admitted to hospital, an inquest has heard.
At the hearing, held this morning at the Coroner’s Court in Northallerton, assistant coroner Richard Watson said Susan Cunliffe-Lister had been admitted to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton on February 2, feeling unwell and breathless.
She died there on March 12, aged 87.
The initial cause of death given at today’s inquest was sepsis of unknown origin, and myelodysplasia, a rare type of blood cancer where the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells.
The court heard her disability, caused by a riding accident in 1958, was also believed to have contributed to her death. The inquest was adjourned to a later date.
Born Susan Lilian Primrose Sinclair in April 1935, she became paraplegic in the accident, using a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Until her death, Lady Masham was a prominent disability rights campaigner and founded the Spinal Injuries Association in 1974.
Read more:
She represented Great Britain in the inaugural Paralympics in 1960, as well as in 1964 and 1968, winning two gold medals, six silver, and two bronze, in swimming and table tennis.
She became Lady Masham on her marriage to David Cunliffe-Lister in 1959, and the couple then became the Earl and Countess of Swinton in 1972 after the death of his father.
She was made a life peer in 1970 as Baroness Masham of Ilton and was the longest-serving woman ever to sit in the House of Lords. She continued to focus on disability rights throughout her life and was patron of Harrogate-based charity Disability Action Yorkshire.
