Pensioner prone to wandering dies after fall
A pensioner who remained fiercely independent despite crippling dementia died after a fall in his St Leonards nursing home.
Sidney Pickett, 83, was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a fractured skull and fractured ribs on May 16, 2009.
Tracey Dorn, senior carer at Park Beck Rest Home, Upper Maze Hill, said: "It's possible he was going towards the patio doors to go outside, because he liked to be outside."
The inquest at Hastings Magistrates' Court on Wednesday heard Mr Pickett, a retired managing director with a history of falls, regularly left his room to roam the nursing home after being admitted just four months before his death.
After a battle with prostate cancer in 2000, Mr Pickett was diagnosed with dementia in 2002 and type 2 diabetes in 2006. By the time he was admitted to Park Beck, he did not recognise carers, although close family remained familiar.
Tracey, who found Mr Pickett, said: "He needed care all the time but would walk off by himself. He liked walking up and down steps, so it's possible he fell after walking up these. The steps are quite steep."
Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Alan Craze told Ms Dorn: "We know the elderly will fall and you poor people must constantly be dealing with the consequences of people who have fallen over.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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