An 87-year-old woman who repeatedly refused to put on her heating due to fears over high energy bills died from profound hypothermia after being found slumped in her home, an inquest has heard.
Barbara Bolton was discovered by her grandson at her kitchen table unable to speak on 11 December 2022. Medics found she had a body temperature of just 28C; a normal temperature is 37C.
She was taken to Fairfield hospital in Bury but died of pneumonia brought on by hypothermia on 5 January, the Rochdale inquest heard.
The senior coroner, Joanne Kearsley, was told the pensioner was supported by a caring, extended family, but was stubborn and ignored their pleas to put the heating on at her terraced house in Bury, Greater Manchester. The court heard that her family had encouraged her to put her heating on, and told her not to worry about the bills, but she would not listen.
The coroner told her son, Mark Bolton: “What comes across clearly from both the hospital statements and from your own is how much, as a family, you cared and looked after your mum.
“I think it was evident from the hospital that whatever had happened at home wasn’t because the family weren’t encouraging her to put her heating on or telling her not to worry. It’s clear she was fixated on the worry of putting her heating on no matter what anyone was saying to her.
“For some reason, she had clearly become slightly entrenched in the view she couldn’t put the heating on for whatever reason. No matter what anyone was telling her, she wasn’t going to do anything differently.”
Hospital notes recorded that she had deliberately not turned her heating on “for fear of high energy bills”, the inquest heard.
In his statement read to the court, Mark Bolton said his mother had only given up work as a Tesco pharmacy assistant at the age of 82, and medical evidence presented to the court said she had hardly visited a GP in her life.
He said family members spoke to his mother every day and visited her often, and he described how she would put a gas fire on in her living room when people visited.
He said the family had even bought her heaters, but that she would only put these on when the family visited. He added: “She would not put the heating on in the house. But she had been told by family members, particularly in recent times, not to worry about it.”
He told the hearing his mother was “old school” and added: “It was my way or no one’s way with my mum.” He said he worked in mountain rescue and knew how dangerous hypothermia could be.
Recording a conclusion of misadventure, the coroner said: “She seemed like quite a remarkable woman, still working at 82.”
