‘Loving and kind’ woman, 66, died when she fell from the back of an ambulance

A WOMAN died after falling out of the back of an ambulance as it arrived at a hospital, an inquest has heard.

Anita Woodford, 66, was being removed from the parked vehicle when the tragedy occurred on the morning of November 15, 2021.

She had been rushed to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital from her home in Brisley for a dialysis appointment.

However, she had been placed in the wrong wheelchair – and when they arrived she rolled down the ramp.

Jurors at the inquest into her death were yesterday shown CCTV of the moment ambulance care assistant, Tracey Leigh, guided the porter chair out of the vehicle.

It showed Mrs Woodford rolling down the ramp before it hit the bottom and fell violently backwards.

She suffered a head injury in the fall and died two weeks later.

Miss Leigh told Norfolk Coroner’s Court: “I was going down the ramp and, I don’t know what happened, but when I got to the bottom the wheelchair tipped backwards.

“All I know is that it tipped, and I could not hold it.

“I’ve done that job a hundred times before and nothing like that had ever happened before.”

Miss Leigh told how she had received training on best practice of loading and unloading patients – and had warned staff about the use of porter wheelchairs.

She added: “I never thought in a million years this would happen.

“We all used the hospital wheelchairs to transport patients.

“I had done nothing differently that day than what I had done on any other day.”

She was suspended and fired from her role following an internal investigation.

Mrs Woodford sustained a head and neck injury. She was given a CT scan and was kept in hospital overnight.

Eight days later another scan showed she had a bleed on the brain.

She died at home on November 29.

In a statement, Mrs Woodford’s husband Graham Woodford said: “She was loving, kind, caring, considerate, and conscientious.

“She will always be loved and remembered and never forgotten.”

The inquest continues.