A RETIRED Sharpness docker who had lived in the port area all his life died in Dursley following a bleed around the brain after a fall at his home, an inquest heard.

Jack Long, 88, of Oakfield Way, had a history of falls, and Gloucestershire Deputy Coroner David Dooley was told that his daughter had found him collapsed on the floor under a sideboard.

But there was no indication as to how he came to be there, or how long he had been there.

His daughter Carol Mills visited him regularly, and she said that, although she did not see him the day before his fall, she had spoken to him on the phone in the evening.

She then found him when she called to his house on August 11 last year and he was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

The inquest at Gloucestershire Coroner's court was told that Mr Long suffered from chronic kidney disease but managed to live in his own home with social support from carers and from Mrs Mills.

At the hospital he was found to have a chronic bleed inside his head putting pressure on his brain.

He was already on blood thinning drugs and was therefore more susceptible to bleeds. This meant that surgery was not advisable until the medication had been stopped for a period.

Mr Long told doctors that he wanted to have any operation that would help him, but on August 14 he was more confused.

By August 18 doctors felt there was no longer any need to consider surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain, but the next day he became confused again and suffered hallucinations.

He was transferred to the neuro-surgery unit at Southmead Hospital in Bristol with a view to carrying out the surgery.

Southmead surgeon Richard Nelson said it had been intended to operate to relieve the pressure on the brain but Mr Long was found to be unfit for anaesthesia.

"His condition continued to fluctuate and after consultation with Mrs Mills he was started on an end of life pathway, because he would never regain his independence again," he said.

Mr Long was transferred to the Vale Hospital in Dursley for hospice care, and he died there on September 2.

The inquest was told the cause of death was the bleeding around the brain and Mr Dooley recorded a conclusion that Mr Long had died as the result of an accident.