A 22-YEAR-OLD woman taken to hospital with a stab wound died of organ failure after doctors underestimated her injuries by 'mistake'.

Barmaid Joanna Andersen was rushed to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury, after stabbing herself with a kitchen knife when she found her boyfriend with her work colleague, an inquest heard.

But the doctor who treated her did not operate to check the depth of the wound or whether the abdomen wall had been perforated, causing internal injuries.

Instead he thought the wound was superficial and merely stitched up the 5cm-wide cut. Joanna was discharged the day afterwards with painkillers and no antibiotics.

Five days later she was dead after developing an infection in the wound and a rare, flesh-eating bacteria called necrotising fasciitis.

Joanna, of Holbourn Close, Herne, had been readmitted to hospital in pain and vomiting two days after the stabbing. Doctors' attempts to remove the infected tissue failed to save her.

Coroner Rebecca Cobb recorded a narrative verdict.

She said: "I'm indicating that the deceased stabbed herself without suicidal intent, the extent of the damage was not initially recognised, and she developed peritonitis and necrotising fasciitis."