A CORONER has heard how a much-loved 100-year-old woman died days after a fall down stairs in a care home.

Mary Edmondson, of Wigton, died in Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary on August 23 last year, following what turned out to be a tragic fall during the early hours of August 18.

That happened at Inglewood Care Home on Lowmoor Road, Wigton, an inquest into her death heard.

During the hearing at the Coroner’s Court in Cockermouth on, Coroner Kirsty Gomersal heard how staff at the home waited for 40 minutes for an ambulance to take Mrs Edmondson to hospital.

She was told of regular two-hour checks by staff at the home throughout the night.

In a round of checks that started at 5.30am, it was discovered that Mrs Edmondson was not in her room.

She was found by staff several minutes later towards the bottom of a second flight of stairs, having fallen “up to” five steps.

There were no witnesses to the incident, but when the 100-year-old was discovered by night support worker Julie Hall along with another colleague, she was found lying over her zimmer frame.

They found she had sustained serious facial injuries, had bruising around her eyes and had pain in her neck.

Her family heard how she rarely left her room at the care home in the six months before she died, and how she had several falls during her time there.

Ms Hall said: “I had known Mary for 16 months. She was an absolutely lovely lady who loved her music, especially Daniel O’Donnell, and had a great sense of humour.”

Ms Hall also expressed her deep sympathy to her family.

The coroner also heard the initial 999 call made at 5.52am was initially logged as a category two (amber: emergency) as it was thought that Mrs Edmondson had fallen down two flights of stairs.

But during a call back, the incident was re-logged as a category three (yellow: urgent) as it was understood that she had fallen down several stairs, rather than flights.

Ambulance crews got to the home at 6.27am, and used a stretcher to take her safely to their vehicle, before arriving at the infirmary at 7.30am.

Mary was born on November 12, 1917 and raised in Brecon Hill near Raughton Head, neart Dalston and lived there until February 2017, when she decided to move into Inglewood Care Home in Wigton.

Alongside her work as a farmer, Mary was also a keen member of groups including the Raughton Head Women’s Institute and the Tuesday Club in Gatesgill.

Her favourite hobbies were sewing and needlework.

The inquest will reconvene in Carlisle to hear final statements before the coroner delivers her verdict on Thursday, April 4.