A Longparish mother passed away after refusing an ambulance following a fall, an inquest has heard.

Valerie Florence Lipscomb, 84, passed away on March 9 in Basingstoke hospital after a fall at her North Acre home. Prior to her death, she had refused an ambulance on multiple occasions after failing unseen, and fracturing bones including her ribs and one of her vertebrae.

In a statement read out at the inquest, Tony Lipscomb, Valerie’s son, said his mother had been “very unsteady on her feet before the fall, and had fallen twice before.”

Coroner Jason Pegg gave a verdict of accidental death.

Mrs Lipscomb was born on January 28, 1937, and lived in Longparish with her husband. On March 2, her son Tony was called to his parents’ house after his mother suffered a fall while his father was in the hall ordering shopping.

Tony said: “I received a call from my father who said my mother had fallen and he could not pick her up. She had fallen in the living room, and was in a lot of pain to the left side but was refusing an ambulance.

“I thought she’d broken a rib but she didn’t want an ambulance, so I finished cooking their evening meal, which she ate, but it hurt her to move.

“I then moved her upstairs to bed where she said she was more comfortable and the pain was easing. I tried to get her to go in an ambulance again but she said no.”

Tony subsequently left, but was rung by his father later that evening to say that an ambulance had been called as Mrs Lipscomb “was in a lot of pain”, and was taking “deep breaths” when medics arrived.

She was admitted to Basingstoke hospital, where doctors found she had fractured her ribs, as well as suffered a vertebral fracture. While in hospital, she deteriorated on the evening of March 8 into March 9 as she developed pneumonia, and sadly passed away.

Following the opening of the inquest on March 15, the cause of death was given as pneumonia, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rib fractures and the fall. This was contributed to by right heart failure, multiple sclerosis, and Sjögren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease which affects the eyes, mouth and joints.

Passing his verdict, the coroner found that frailty had contributed to her death, adding: “Had she not suffered a fall she would not have passed away when she did so.”