Woman in fall died from hypothermia

A WOMAN who had been drinking on a Christmas night out died from hypothermia after falling just yards from her front door, a coroner’s court heard yesterday.

Rose Whelan, 52, of Ardmore Terrace, Ballybeg, Waterford, suffered injuries when she fell on the path outside her front door, on December 19, 2009. She died just days after her 52nd birthday.

However, state pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy told the Coroner’s Court in Waterford city yesterday Ms Whelan would have been “unlikely to recover” from the hypothermia she suffered after the fall.