A HAMPSHIRE pensioner died after falling out of bed as carers tried to wash her, an inquest heard.

June Climo, 83, “went stiff” from fear and knocked a carer out of the way as she fell to the floor on November 17, later dying of a pneumonia infection, the hearing was told.

The retired teacher, of Little Dene Copse, Pennington, near Lymington, was looked after by her husband and visited by two carers four times a day.

The inquest in Winchester heard she had epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia, had suffered several strokes and could not say more than a few words.

Her carers, Linda Woodford and Jess Knight, told the inquest how they rolled her over in bed on November 17 in an attempt to change and wash her.

Mrs Climo went “stiff”, Ms Woodford said, knocking her colleague out of the way and falling from the bed to the floor.

Her husband, William Climo, said she was often “terrified” when being handled, had no use of her right arm and would often "freeze rigid" involuntarily.

Mrs Climo was taken to Southampton General Hospital with severe bruising on her face but returned home that night.

She died in her husband’s arms on November 24 after developing a pneumonia infection in her lung.

Recording that Mrs Climo died as a result of the infection, senior central Hampshire coroner Grahame Short said the death was “not natural” and her risk of disease was increased because of the fall.