THE death of a widower at an Andover care home has been concluded as ‘accidental’.

Ronald John Line, 90, died at Ashbourne Court Care Home, in Salisbury Road, on November 2 last year.

An inquest at Winchester Coroners Court on Monday heard that Mr Line, who had Parkinson’s disease, had fallen and sustained a fractured neck one week earlier on October 25.

Reading out a statement from Mr Line’s GP, Dr Aileen Houston, senior coroner Grahame Short added: “On the balance of probabilities this was an accidental death. But for the fracture on the 25th of October he would not have died.”

The injury and illness combined to cause his death, with Mr Short saying he “died of aspiration pneumonia due to the fracture of the neck, and Parkinson’s was a contributing factor.”

Mr Line moved to the home in July 2018, one month after his Parkinson’s diagnosis, and facility manager Rajesh Ayyappan said Mr Line “had a special routine because of his problems swallowing” which stemmed from his Parkinson’s disease. He was also said to have a “habit of waking up and walking around,” to which the care home responded by installing an alarm mat next to his bed to alert staff in case he fell.

Other precautions included a falls assessment upon admittance to the home and 24-hourly observation.

Mr Line’s daughter, Paula Noyce, said her father was “hugely independently-minded.”

He lived alone until the age of 89 when he was admitted to Ashbourne Court – the same home where Paula’s mother had lived.

On the day of the fall that damaged his neck, Mr Line was trying to leave his room when he lost his balance and fell at 6am. His alarm mat sounded, alerting nurses who called an ambulance.

Though he initially declined to go to hospital, he later complained of neck pain and was taken to Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester.

Mr Ayyappan said: “We were regularly contacting the hospital and in regular communication with the family. We knew he was deteriorating into another state.”

Mr Line was later discharged as he did not want to remain in hospital, and returned to Ashbourne Court on October 30.

Mr Ayyappan added: “By that stage it was clear they could only offer palliative care due to his condition of pneumonia. At that stage he was kept comfortable until he passed away.”