West Cumberland News 14 Feb. 1959 14 Feb. 1959 Inquest Verdict

14 Feb. 1959 Inquest Verdict

INQUEST VERDICT ON WORKINGTON  WIDOW. On January 7 an 84 year old Workington widow fell in  her bedroom, fracturing a thigh. She was admitted to Whitehaven Hospital and  died on February 6, not as a result of the accident but from an intestinal  obstruction caused by a hernia of long standing. At an inquest at Whitehaven on Monday, the Coroner,  Mr. H. F. T. GOUGH, recorded a verdict of “Death by natural  causes.” The octogenarian was Mrs. Elizabeth Jane HARKINS of 16  Milburn Street, Workington. Her husband, Mr. John HARKINS, died 15 years  ago. FALL FROM BED. John H. HARKINS, a boiler smith, told Mr. GOUGH that  his mother lived with him and his wife. On January 7 he heard a noise and found  his mother lying beside her bed. She told him she had fallen and had hurt her  leg. Next day she was taken to hospital. At first she made good progress, then  her condition deteriorated. Witness said he understood Mrs. HARKINS was too old to  be operated upon for the fractured femur. She had suffered from a hernia for 42  years and had been receiving injections from her own  doctor. Dr. Anthony G. DAVIES, casualty officer at Whitehaven  Hospital, stated that, in addition to the hernia, it was found on January 22  that the old lady was suffering from pernicious anemia, for which she was  treated. Death, added witness, was due to the intestinal  obstruction. The patient’s condition had been lowered by the fracture but this  did not cause death, which was from natural causes.

 

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