The “fantastic work” of a charity that cares for islanders with disabilities has been praised at the inquest of a woman who lived in their care for 12 years before her death.

Filipa Rubina Andrade Castro died aged 45 on 30 December 2023 after being cared for by Jersey Cheshire Home for more than a decade.

The woman had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a three-vehicle collision outside Trinity Stores in 2011, when she was one of six people in an overloaded car. The other passengers included her children.

Ms Andrade Castro wasn’t wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the inquest heard.

The car she was in was being driven by a man who suffered from epilepsy and had been disqualified from driving, the inquest heard. He later died from his injuries.

Ms Andrade Castro also suffered a number of injuries and underwent a decompressive craniotomy – a surgery where part of the skull is removed because the brain is swelling.

After “some considerable” time in hospital, she was transferred to Jersey Cheshire Home.

There, she was “verbal and responsive” for some time, but a viral infection meant she then lost her capabilities.

The inquest heard that, towards the end of Ms Andrade Castro’s life, she was effectively in a coma.

Statements from a staff member at Jersey Cheshire Home and from a collision investigation report were also read out during the hearing yesterday.

According to the latter, the driver of the car would have probably been charged with a number of driving offences, possibly including dangerous driving, if he had survived.

Relief Coroner Advocate Cyril Whelan said: “For one moment of rash driving, that was the outcome: two lost their lives, 12 years of constant detention, needing constant care, with a further decline where her body gave up.”

Advocate Whelan said Ms Andrade Castro’s death was “tragic”, adding that: “She hung on as long as she could.”

The inquest heard a statement from the Jersey Cheshire Home nurse who had been caring for Ms Andrade Castro before her death, checking on her regularly.

The Relief Coroner praised the “fantastic work” of the charity.

“There ought to be more acclaim about what Cheshire Home do,” he added.

Advocate Whelan found the cause of death for Ms Andrade Castro to be aspiration pneumonia, against a background of traumatic brain injury.