North Anston dad died of pneumonia

A North Anston father of three who slipped into alcoholism after the death of his own father died of pneumonia, an inquest heard.
Guardian NewsGuardian News
Guardian News

Vincent Price, 54, of Orchard Avenue, passed away on 10th December last year.

Rotherham Coroner’s Court heard how Mr Price had been ill with a chest infection in the days leading up to his death. But his wife and daughter, with whom he lived, suspected he had also been drinking.

The court heard how he had gone to bed on the evening of the 10th but got up during the night and banged his head in the bathroom.

In a statement read out from his widow Patricia, she said it was not unusual for him to fall and hurt himself when he had been drinking.

But on this occasion she did now know whether he had been drinking, because she never found any bottles in the house and did not know where he hid them.

Mrs Price was alerted by the bang and got up to find him crawling from the bathroom towards the bedroom, with a cut to his face.

She described how he had slumped heavily onto the bed in a kneeling position before she and her daughter Eve Marie left him to sleep.

In the early hours when Mrs Price went to check on him, she found him in the same position. She said he felt cold to the touch and went to get Eve to help get him back into bed.

But Eve realised something was wrong and called an ambulance.

Paramedics pronounced him dead when they arrived.

The inquest heard how Mr Price was an industrial electrician who had been working up until his death.

His father died ten years ago and he had turned to alcohol after that. But he tried several times to kick the bottle, going through detox programmes with limited success.

An autopsy revealed there was no alcohol or drugs in Mr Price’s system when he died. And he had no evidence of serious illness or injury.

Coroner Nicola Mundy recorded a narrative verdict, giving the cause of death as bronchial pneumonia with chronic alcoholism as a contributory factor. “I am very sorry you have had to come here in these circumstances and I am sorry for your loss,” she told the family.

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