CRIPPLE'S FATE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 218, 15 September 1930, Page 9

CRIPPLE'S FATE.

TERRIBLY BURNED. PINNED IN WHEEL-CHAIR. FELL FORWARD INTO FIRE. DISCOVERY BY NURSE. Terrible burns were received by William Edinborough Chamberlain, a chairbound cripple suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, when he fell from "his chair on top of a fire,- and was unable to move. ,At tlie inquest held in the Otahuhu Court this morning before Mr. F. H. Levien, S.M. : , coroner, a verdict was given of death due to shock and septic absorption, due to burns received by falling into a fire. He Was an old age pensioner, aged 05, living at Robertson Road, Mangere. Deceased had been a complete cripple for the past six years, said the brother-in-law, John Henry Bathe. He had suffered "from rheumatoid arthritis, and during that time had been confined to his chair. He had to be lifted from his chair to his bed. Left in Safe Position. On August 24, all the other members of the household went to visit relations at Pakuranga, and Chamberlain stayed at home as he was expecting a visitor. Before leaving home he made Chamberlain comfortable in his wheel-chair- in front of a fire in the sitting-room. The nearest part of his chair would be 4ft from the fire, and that was'quite a safe distance. He had been left under similar circumstances many times before. As she was passing the house on the evening of tlie 24th, said Madge Bennett, a dental nurse, living at Robertson Road, MangerCj she noticed the house in darkness: Sh6 went inside to turn on the lights. This M'as a common practice among the neighbours who knew the circumstances. When she entered the sitting room she saw Chamberlain lying across the hearth with his head wedged between > a coke-burning grate and tlie side \>f- the chimney. The wheel chair was lying on top of the cripple. She tried to lift the chair ofi' him, but it was too heavy. Then she hurried across to the house of a neighbour, Mrs. Smith, and between them they managed to move the chair. Chamberlain was quite conscious, and he gave directions as' to what was to be done for him. She heard him say that his foot had slipped, ofi' the foot-rest of tlie chair and he had , fallen forward. That causcd the chair to over-balance and to'fall on top of him towards the fireplace. His arms were locked between his body and the tray of the chair. Dr. A. Martin Ross said he found Chamberlain suffering from severe burns on various parts of the head, neck and back of the shoulders, arid ordered his removal to the Auckland Hospital, after dressing his burns. He died in the hospital on September 3.