A 'FIERCELY independent' Flintshire pensioner died due to a 'traumatic fall' at his home which led to him suffering cardiac arrest and the discovery of further complications.

Frederick William Ernest Pullen was 91 years old and lived on Ffordd Owen, Northop.

An inquest into the cause of Mr Pullen's death was held at Ruthin County Hall on Tuesday, June 7.

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The inquest heard that he died at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in the early hours of the morning on November 15, 2021 - almost three days after falling while trying to move from one of his mobility scooters to another in his garden.

That incident had taken place on November 12 with Mr Pullen sustaining injuries to his forearms during the fall - believed to have been from striking part of a polytunnel during his fall.

His daughter, Mandy Taylor, spoke about how he had not initially told her about falling, insisting that she stopped 'fussing'.

But two days later on November 14 he began to complain of 'pain in the right side of his stomach'.

Mrs Taylor said her father was ex-army personnel who had also undergone National Service with the Royal Artillery. He then went on to become a diamond driller in Cornwall and later a builder.

The Leader: coroner's court

PIC: Mr Pullen's inquest was concluded on Tuesday, June 7.

Mrs Taylor says that a fall off a scaffolding some 30 years ago had led to an injury at the base of her father's spine but that he had been 'okay up until recently'.

She added that he was 'fiercely independent' and still went shopping every week up until not long before his death.

After complaining of the pain in his side on November 14, a doctor came out to visit Mr Pullen at 10pm that night and told him that he had the 'largest hematoma she had ever seen'.

He was then taken to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan, where an attempt was made to evacute what was revealed to be a 'rectus sheath hemotoma'.

Mr Pullen, who was also taking warfarin ahead of a planned colonoscopy, suffered significant blood loss during this procedure, but had begun breathing with no assistance again at 4.25pm.

However, a consultant report noted that his airway became 'difficult to maintain' and his blood pressure, which was already low when he arrived at the hospital, began to worsen.

Mr Pullen was pronounced dead at 5.25pm - the cause of his death being a cardiac arrest due to a pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis worsened by the traumatic fall he had suffered.

Kate Sutherland, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central concluded a case of 'accidental death' adding that Mr Pullen's injuries were 'consistent with the unwitnessed fall' and 'having not recovered from the operation'.

She added that, at 91 years old, he 'simply didn't have the physiological reserves a younger person might have to recover' from such an incident.