A WOMAN from Stockbridge died after two falls at her home, an inquest heard.

Ann Horley, 75, a retired schoolteacher, died at home in High Street after falling twice in her bathroom - once on October 11 and then again on October 12.

The widow, who was on warfarin for deep vein thrombosis, was taken to hospital but passed away at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital on October 24.

Describing the widow as a “very determined woman”, her daughter Annabelle Knudson said: “I wasn't aware there was a head injury - there were no signs of it.”

Mrs Knudson said her mother then spent the day with her two grandchildren - aged 10 and 13. She refused to take paracetamol because she hadn't wanted to be too tired to take care of them.

“She played games with them all night and she was on very good form,” Mrs Knudson added. She told the court how her mother had used a walking frame and had a history of falls. She then said she found her mother less than two days afterwards.

“I was worried she wasn't alive at that stage,” she said. “She was conscious but barely.”

Though there were no signs of any head injury following the first fall, the senior coroner for central Hampshire, Grahame Short, said it was no doubt contributory to the death.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Short said: “There are unwitnessed falls and we can't always know precisely what happened. It seems to me there was bleeding which started after the initial fall on October 11. These bleeds are something that can happen very gradually and build up a period of days. Clearly the second fall on October 12 was a more significant one.”