A ‘dedicated and devoted’ wife died after falling in the kitchen while cooking her husband fish and chips, a court has heard. 

Joan Ward, 89, of Mill Road in Forncett St Peter, near Long Stratton, was found by her husband’s carer on the floor at 7.25am on September 21 last year. 

Paige King, who helped care for Frederick Ward, discovered the couple both dressed in the previous day’s clothes and with the oven on. 

In a statement to Norfolk Coroner’s Court, Ms King said: “After entering the room, I saw Joan lying on the floor. She was completely unconscious. 

“On Wednesday evenings, Joan usually cooked fish and chips and would put this on around 4.30pm, which meant she had been down for many hours.” 

She added that Mr Ward, a retired agricultural engineer who suffers from severe advanced vascular dementia, had been asleep in a chair. 

Ms King dialled 999 and an ambulance took Mrs Ward to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital where she later died at 11.55pm. 

Their daughter, May Prior, said: “Approaching her 90th birthday, she was physically quite frail but determined to care for my father at home for as long as she possibly could. 

“Mentally, she was capable of running her home; paying the bills, ordering online shopping, and doing emails. 

“She enjoyed crosswords and played board games with her two great grandsons.” 

The court, based at County Hall in Norwich, also heard that Mrs Ward, a retired secretary, was not a frequent faller but had tripped days earlier on September 17 and sustained a minor head injury. 

General practitioner Dr Jane Loughridge, of Long Stratton Medical Partnership, also provided a written statement which was read out to the court on January 9. 

“She was a tireless, hard-working carer for her husband," she said. 

“She was offered support but saw it as her duty. 

“She was devoted to him.” 

The medical cause of death was given as a traumatic subdural haematoma due to, or because of, a fall. 

Area coroner, Yvonne Blake, concluded her death was accidental. 

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