An inquest has heard that Peaky Blinders actor Toby Kirkup died just hours after being discharged from hospital.
The star, who also appeared in ITV soap Emmerdale, was just 48-years-old when he sadly died at home alone after attending Huddersfield Royal Infirmary on August 29 2020.
Toby decided to seek medical attention after suffering from chest pains and feeling tingling in his arms.
After being seen by medics and being diagnosed with gastritis he was sent back to his Titanic Mills home in Linthwaite.
According to The Mirror, an inquest at Bradford Coroner's Court was told Mr Kirkup's family wanted a coroner to investigate his death because they believed he had been "wrongly diagnosed" and that the focus had been on his stomach pain rather than chest pain.
A statement from the family, read at the virtual hearing, said Mr Kirkup started to use drink and drugs while at university but had been "clean" since going to a rehab facility in South Africa almost 10 years before his death.
The family believed the diagnosis had been based on "a perception of excessive alcohol and drug use", the statement said, questioning why Mr Kirkup was "sent home with lifestyle advice and told to get some Gaviscon", an over-the-counter medicine to relieve heartburn and indigestion.
On August 18, just over a week before his death, Mr Kirkup celebrated his birthday, "making use of recreational drugs and alcohol", the inquest was told.
But Pathologist Dr Karen Ramsden said Mr Kirkup died from bleeding caused by a ruptured aortic arch aneurysm.
She added: "I don't think we can prove chronic cocaine usage was the cause."
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Dr Robert Palin, who assessed Mr Kirkup when he attended A&E, said that, although the actor went into hospital complaining of chest pain, he did not mention it during their conversation.
He said Mr Kirkup described having pain in his upper abdominal area and told the doctor he had used "recreational drugs and alcohol to celebrate his birthday the previous week".
Dr Palin told the hearing an electrocardiogram and additional tests did not change his opinion that the most likely cause of the pain was gastritis.
The doctor said Mr Kirkup's drink and drug use "didn't affect my reasoning at all".
Dr Thomas Davies, a consultant in emergency medicine, produced a review of the incident.
He told the inquest the aneurysm would "probably" have been present when he went to hospital, but would also probably have been "undetectable".
Concluding that Mr Kirkup died of natural causes, assistant coroner Ian Pears said: "It's quite clear that cardiac procedures were followed.
"I'm not at all critical of anything that has taken place within the hospital and I understand the reason for the discharge.
"It is one of those things where, unfortunately, the condition has then ruptured and become a terminal event."
Although best known for Peaky Blinders Toby's previous performances also include a number of Shakespearean roles for a Manchester-based theatre, while his on-screen credits included an appearance on Channel 4's The Mill.
His family's statement described him as "a gifted musician, sportsman and actor" who "helped so many people" with his work in rehab clinics.
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