A DEVOTED wife and mum of four boys from Andover died due to aspiration pneumonia during treatment for head injuries following a fall, an inquest heard.

Rebecca Louise Gillick (Becky), 51, died on February 27 at Southampton General Hospital after spending nearly 75 days there following a fall from the stairs at her home on December 10, 2021.

Winchester Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday, September 27, from Richard Gillick that his late wife was “a kind of person who would put others before herself”.

“I have lost count how many people she has helped over the years. She would help anyone with any problems regardless of situation,” Mr Gillick said.

He told coroner Jason Pegg that Mrs Gillick had problems with her back and shoulder before her fall.

In the evening of December 10 Mrs Gillick had gone to bed upstairs after having three glasses of wine.

Mr Pegg said: “I have heard she had pain on her shoulders, which would have resulted in some reduction in her usual mobility. And Mr Gillick was downstairs during the early hours that day, when he heard the noise of her fall. He found his wife Becky dressed in night clothes at the bottom of the stairs. While the fall itself was not witnessed the possibility is that she tripped on the cat. There is a good chance that Becky was going to get a glass of water.

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“When Becky fell down, she struck her head and she suffered very severe head injuries and fractures to skull, significant bleeding and she suffered fractures to vertebrae.

“Despite the best efforts of hospital, Becky deteriorated and sadly passed away having aspiration pneumonia.

“When someone suffered a severe head injury and fractures to vertebrae and they're being fed via tube and they're lying in bed, aspiration pneumonia is a recognised complication.

“My conclusion is that Rebecca Louise Gillick died on February 27, 2022, after had developed aspiration pneumonia in consequence of an acute subdural haemorrhage caused when she fell down the stairs at her home in Andover.

“It seems to me, had Becky not suffered that fall on December 10, she would not have passed away the way she did. The circumstances for that fall, based on the evidence before me, it's quite clear that it was an accident.”