A PENSIONER died after falling over twice in a matter of minutes in the care home where she lived, an inquest heard yesterday.
Staff at Rydal Nursing Home, in Darlington, thought Gladys Thompson, 78, was unharmed after the first fall on May 8.
But minutes later the retired cinema attendant, who used a walking frame, fell again, knocking herself unconscious on a wall. She was taken to hospital where she died four days later.
Her sister-in-law Dorothy Thompson, of Neasham Drive, asked nursing home manager Lynn Clark at the hearing in Darlington why she had been allowed to walk again unaided.
Ms Clark said staff had believed she was unaffected by the first fall.
South Durham Coroner Colin Penna recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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