AN ELDERLY woman died after hitting her head during a fall on Christmas morning, an inquest heard.

Phyllis Cooper, 84, was getting ready to go for Christmas lunch when she fell at her home in Ambleside in Botley.

Winchester Coroner’s Court heard that the great-grandmother suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage – bleed to the brain – and was knocked unconscious by the fall.

She was discovered unresponsive and not breathing by her daughter Pauline Fisher just after 11am, when she came to pick her up for lunch.

Mrs Fisher’s husband, John, phoned an ambulance and numerous resuscitation attempts were made to resuscitate Mrs Cooper. However, after 20 minutes a decision was made to stop CPR.

It was heard that Mrs Cooper had succumbed to falls in the past and assistant coroner Simon Burge added her osteoporosis – bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue – would have made it harder to prevent these. A verdict of accidental death was recorded.