The Star: March 21, 2024

Thursday March 21 2024 The Star
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 7
Mysterious death
of mum-of-four
explained by
Coroner
• By Anna Leask
A CORONER has ruled the
death of a mother-of-four found
at her Heathcote home as the
result of an “accidental fall whilst
intoxicated”.
An inquest will not be held
into Heather Foote’s death as the
Coroner is satisfied the cause
and circumstances of the fatal
incident have been determined
by investigating police and a
pathologist.
Foote, 56, died on July 28, 2021
– two days after she was found
with critical injuries at her Port
Hills Rd home.
In September 2021, police confirmed
there were no suspicious
circumstances and the death
had been referred to Coroner
Heather McKenzie.
After reviewing all of the
information provided to her, she
did not consider it “necessary nor
desirable to open and conduct an
inquiry” into Foote’s death.
She said Foote’s direct cause of
death was acute subdural haemorrhage
– a serious condition
where blood collects between
the skull and the surface of the
brain – which was the result of
a blunt force head injury from a
“probable accidental fall whilst
intoxicated”.
She said post-mortem results
indicated Foote was a “chronic
alcoholic”.
Her two daughters saw her
before they left for school on
July 27 and her son found her at
about 11.20am.
She was face down on the
kitchen floor and unresponsive.
Foote died in Christchurch
Hospital two days later.
Police carried out an extensive
investigation – including a report
by a passer-by of “two people
loudly arguing” at Foote’s house
at about 11.04am.
Coroner McKenzie said neither
police nor the pathologist
found any evidence of foul play.
“In the days before her death,
Ms Foote had been generally
unwell and vomiting, saying that
she had the flu,” she said.
“A challenging aspect of Ms
Foote’s life was that she was a
heavy alcohol user.
“Ms Foote was known to fall
or bang into things while intoxicated
which reportedly caused
her to bruise and have marks on
her body.
“Ms Foote’s alcohol consumption
had reportedly increased in
the several years before her death
and possibly after she lost her job
PROBABLE FALL: Police
at the Port Hills Rd home
where Heather Foote was
found critically injured in
2021. She died days later.
PHOTO: GEORGE HEARD/
NZ HERALD
during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Coroner McKenzie said Foote
was a “very keen runner” but had
not been going out as much in
the lead-up to her death.
“She had also started isolating
herself, though kept in regular
contact with and supported her
father,” she noted.
A forensic pathologist told
the Coroner he believed Foote’s
“lethal” head injury was “most
likely the result of an accidental
fall whilst intoxicated”.
She sought further explanation
from him and he advised Foote
had “multiple recent falls, known
alcoholism, and a known haematological
abnormality – most
likely induced by her alcoholism
– making her more likely than
usual to bleed following trauma”.
“The evidence of multiple
bruises of different ages indicated
that Ms Foote had multiple
head impacts over at least several
days before her death and any
one or a combination of these
could have been responsible for
Ms Foote’s gradually progressive
fatal intra-cranial bleed,” the
Coroner explained.
“Ms Foote’s fatal haemorrhage
could have started earlier than
approximately 8.30am when
last seen by her daughter and
could have been the culmination
of slower bleeding reaching a
critical mass.”
– NZ Herald
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