A mother-of-one with a penicillin allergy is in a coma after she is believed to have been mistakenly given the drug at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Teresa Innes is thought to have suffered a massive reaction when she was put on a drip containing penicillin to treat an abscess on her leg.

The 36-year-old, who was wearing a bracelet to warn staff at BRI of her potentially fatal penicillin allergy, immediately went into anaphylactic shock, which stopped her heart.

A crash team desperately tried to resuscitate her but it is thought her brain was starved of oxygen for vital minutes.

She is now in a vegetative state in the intensive care unit at BRI, where she has been since the incident in September.

Today Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said an investigation was under way and her relatives were being kept fully informed of developments.

But her family and friends are distraught and fear that Teresa, of Evans Towers, Ternhill Grove, off Manchester Rd, Bradford, may never recover.

Her aunt Sheila Innes, 46, choked back tears as she said: "I feel like my niece has been murdered.

"I am so bitter and shocked. I just don't understand how this could have happened. The first meeting we had with the hospital they said there had been a terrible error made.

"All the family is walking round in limbo. We are trying to be positive but it is just awful going to visit her."

Teresa, who has a 17-year-old son Scott, had just returned from a holiday in Corfu when she noticed an infection on her leg. Marlene Greaves, also of Evans Towers, who is her registered next-of-kin, persuaded her to see her GP at Park Road Medical Centre.

"The GP took one look and said it was an abscess which needed hospital treatment," she said.

Teresa's GP phoned BRI to warn of her allergy and also gave her a letter to take, said Mrs Greaves. When Teresa, who was accompanied by Mrs Greaves, was seen by a surgeon, it was again reiterated she was allergic to penicillin.

"The surgeon said it was on her records and so Teresa felt reassured and thought everything would be all right," said Mrs Greaves.

Teresa was admitted to a ward, but an operation planned for that day had to be postponed as a series of emergencies took priority.

"The next news I had was at 7am the following morning when I got a call from a nurse to say would I go straight to the hospital as she was very poorly," said Mrs Greaves.

"When we got there we were shown into a little room and told Teresa had suffered a reaction to the antibiotics she had been given intravenously.

"We went to see Teresa and she looked awful. She was swollen and red, she did not look like Teresa at all. She was in a coma and she has never come round.

"There is eye movement now but we do not know what she is taking in and no one can say if she will be our Teresa again.

"It is a shocking state of affairs. I feel hurt and destroyed. Teresa always said she would not want to live in a vegetative state but if there is a chance of some form of quality of life for her then we have to go for it, but to be honest I am getting very disheartened."

Mrs Greaves and the Innes family have employed a solicitor and had meetings with Michael Smith, medical director at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, in a bid to understand what went wrong.

The family's solicitor Brian Walker, of Lee and Priestley Solicitors in Sunbridge Road, Bradford, said: "This does sound like a genuine error when they have given her an injection which they shouldn't have done.

"We are now trying to get legal aid for Teresa. The intention is to get our own neuro-surgeon, her medical records and expert reports to help our case."

Mrs Greaves said: "They are all sorry at the hospital and we have had apologies. But none of that helps Teresa.

"Teresa was such a strong personality and I keep talking to her, telling her that she can beat this, that she is strong.

"She has not had a great life but this year she was the happiest I have ever seen her. Everything was going great for her and I said it was about time she was getting out and enjoying herself, then this.

"We are all just hoping and praying that she makes progress."

A spokesman for Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, declined to comment at length for legal reasons but said: "An investigation was immediately launched and we are keeping the family fully informed.