'Cancer' was a fish bone

A MAN died after being treated for lung cancer - although he did not have the disease, an inquest was told yesterday.

Bill Hardman, 50, of Warrington, had actually inhaled a tiny fish bone, but when he sought help after coughing up blood he was diagnosed as suffering from cancer and began radiotherapy treatment at Christie's Hospital in Manchester. He died from heart failure in March 1992 after his first course of treatment.

It was triggered by a build-up of blood caused by the fish bone - discovered during a post- mortem examination - perforating his lung. A verdict of accidental death was recorded.