South Yorkshire Times, April 14th 1939.
Mexborough Woman’s Fatal Spine Injury.
A Verdict of “Accidental Death” was returned by Coroner W. H. Carlisle at an inquest at the Montagu Hospital, Mexborough on Saturday on Miss Eliza Vardy (55), of 17, Garden Street, Mexborough, Who slipped and fell as she was mounting the steps to Mexborough Congregational Church on Sunday, March 26th.
Mrs. Lily Vardy, niece, with whom she had lived said her aunt was a “normal healthy woman but a little mentally weak.”
Her aunt left home after lunch on the Sunday and she first heard of the accident that night although she did not visit her until Tuesday. She was told she had “slipped down three steps” Mrs Vardy visited the hospital again at 3am on Friday and her aunt died two hours later.
Reginald Thomas, printer, of 456, Victoria Road, Mexborough, said he was walking down Garden Street, at about 1.30 on the Sunday in question and saw the woman, whom he knew, lying at the foot of the congregational Church steps. she said to him “I went dizzy and fell down three steps.”
Dr. Wm. C. McGuire, house surgeon, at the hospital said Miss Vardy was admitted on March 26th in a shocked condition and with bruises and discoloration about the face. He understood she felt in a faint condition when the accident occurred. She became paralyzed in the left limbs after admittance and in the right limbs also an hour later. An X-ray examination revealed a fracture and discoloration of the fifth cervical vertebra which occasioned the paralysis. Although she made some progress during the week death was due to heart failure brought about by her injuries.