AN ACTIVE and sociable widow died in hospital last year after a fall which caused a bleed on her brain, an inquest has heard.

Ivy Elizabeth Davis, 89, was found by her good friend Peter Hallewell after she’d fallen at her home on Townsend Close, Basingstoke, on May 20 2020.

Peter Hallewell and his wife were close friends of Mrs Davis for 16 years.

In a statement read in Winchester Coroners’ Court on Tuesday (February 16), Mr Hallewell said Mrs Davis’ husband sadly passed a way around 14 years ago.

He added that she had moved out of the family home, a large bungalow in Basingstoke, and into a local authority flat and “was able to enjoy her life”.

She would go on three or four cruises a year, and would eat out a lot and socialise, often with Mr and Mrs Hallewell.

A few years ago, Mr Hallewell became aware she had a few problems. She had a few dizzy spells, and was taken to hospital “around half a dozen times” after falls.

On May 20 2020, Mrs Davis had activated her emergency alarm and Mr Halliwell attended, letting himself into the property with his key.

He found her on the floor in the “middle room” - a small bedroom with wardrobes and various files - and was able to speak to her. She told him she’d “just gone down”. He attended to her and called an ambulance.

Dr Caroline O’Keeffe, of the Camrose, Gillies & Hackwood GP partnership, said that, “given her age, Mrs Davis was in relatively good health.”

At a general welfare phone appointment on May 1, Mrs Davis reported she was doing well. Her neighbours were helping her with shopping and she was missing going into town for coffee and cake, but was still getting out for a daily walk around the block.

When she was admitted to hospital on May 20, an x-ray showed fractures to her pelvis. The following day, she reported having a headache and feeling sick, and was referred for a CT scan.

It was this which showed she had a large bleed on the brain, and the specialist team based in Southampton advised that intervention would not be in her best interest. Doctors told the court that it was “most likely” that the fall caused the brain haemorrhage as opposed to the other way around.

Mrs Davis was given palliative care and her condition continued to deteriorate until she passed away on June 1 2020.

Area coroner Jason Pegg said: “For someone of her age, Mrs Davis was of relatively good health and it would seem she was in good spirits despite the pandemic. She had been widowed a number of years ago, and it seems she enjoyed the friendship of Mr and Mrs Hallewell.

“The fall was, it seems to me, an accidental fall. It was that fall that led to Ivy Davis’ death and therefore the appropriate conclusion in this case is one of accidental death.”