Hannah Comber - Report on death must be published

HANNAH COMBER’S death just over three years ago — in June 2006 — will have disturbed anyone of an age who might have to face the reality of moving into a nursing home.

Her lonely death, without the comfort of relatives or friends around her, will frighten anyone with a father or a mother, a brother or a sister, or any close relative or friend dependent on such a home.

She died at the at Heatherside hospital near Doneraile, Co Cork, strapped to a chair. She was 75 years old and a postmortem examination found she choked to death. It is thought she fell asleep and slipped down on the chair, causing the belt to compress her throat.