{"id":368255,"date":"2025-08-23T22:18:44","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T22:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368255\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T22:18:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T22:18:44","slug":"blind-woman-99-dies-after-spilling-cup-of-tea-on-her-lap-at-nursing-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/368255\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind woman, 99, dies after spilling cup of tea on her lap at nursing home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An inquest heard that Margaret Eluned Roberts was told she should have been given a cup with a handle but staff said they didnt know they were to do something different<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_DPP_DPW_090625CourtIves_11JPG.jpg\" alt=\"Margaret Eluned Roberts\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Margaret Eluned Roberts, 99, (left) with her daughter Linda Pritchard(Image: Linda Pritchard)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A 99-year-old woman tragically died after being scalded by a cup of tea she was drinking, an inquest has heard. Margaret Eluned Roberts, who was registered blind and lived in a <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/social-care\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">nursing home<\/a> in north Wales, suffered burns when the hot black tea spilled onto her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The inquest revealed that the burn contributed to Mrs Roberts developing a chest infection. However, the senior coroner concluded that the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/pensioners\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">pensioner&#8217;s<\/a> death, which occurred about five weeks after the burn, was accidental.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Kate Robertson, the senior coroner for <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/north-wales\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">north west Wales<\/a>, determined that she died from pneumonia and cellulitis secondary to a burn, with old age, asthma and ischaemic heart disease as contributing factors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Sarah Thomas, a healthcare assistant at Glan Rhos nursing home in Brynsiencyn, testified that Mrs Roberts had requested a cup of black tea. She gave it to her in a plastic, two-handled beaker on September 22 last year.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Ysbyty-Gwynedd-near-Bangor.jpg\" alt=\"Ysbyty Gwynedd near Bangor\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>The blind 99-year-old was hospitalised with severe burns after the incident(Image: Ian Cooper\/North Wales Live)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Despite knowing that Mrs Roberts was registered blind, Ms Thomas stated that she was &#8220;very independent&#8221; and &#8220;wanted to drink the cup of tea herself&#8221;. After watching Mrs Roberts sip the tea through a straw in the spout, Ms Thomas moved away, reports <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/news\/wales-news\/woman-99-dies-after-scalded-32308106\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Wales Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The inquest heard that Mrs Roberts then accidentally spilled the tea on herself around 7pm. Despite this, Ms Thomas claimed she didn&#8217;t hear Mrs Roberts &#8220;scream&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Jo Reavey, a nurse and witness, stated that she heard Mrs Roberts, known as Eluned, &#8220;shouting in an urgent tone&#8221;. She described finding her &#8220;distraught with her arms raised. The beaker was upside down and there was black tea on her trousers&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The wound began to blister, and staff applied cold towels to it, she explained. In her statement, Linda Pritchard, Mrs Roberts&#8217; daughter, said she received a phone call about the incident. She questioned, &#8220;why did they give a blind lady hot black tea?&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">An ambulance was summoned at 7.51pm and arrived at Glan Rhos nursing home approximately two hours later, around 10pm.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_FILE-PICTURE-Ysbyty-Gwynedd-Bangor-Image-David-PowellNorth-Wales-Live.jpg\" alt=\"Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>The 99-year-old care home resident was transported to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor(Image: Daily Post Wales)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mrs Roberts was transported to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, where the burn was initially classified as covering 8% of her body weight, but after the redness subsided, it was reclassified as 4%. This is below the 10% threshold required for admission to a burns unit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">At Ysbyty Gwynedd, the blisters were lanced, the wound dressed, and she was discharged. Mrs Roberts was returned to Glan Rhos but developed respiratory issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">On October 7, her daughter Mrs Pritchard requested her readmission to Ysbyty Gwynedd. Dr Abdul Azu, a consultant physician, informed the inquest that her condition was not improving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mrs Roberts passed away in hospital on October 28, roughly five weeks after the scalding incident. When questioned by Mrs Pritchard, Dr Azu confirmed her mother had developed a chest infection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">He added: &#8220;Without a doubt the burn has contributed to her (Mrs Roberts) catching the chest infection because she was not moving about.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;She was lying in bed. The scalding was a factor in her declining health,&#8221; he concluded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The coroner, Mrs Robertson, stated that Mrs Roberts passed away on October 28 &#8220;as a result of the medical conditions which were precipitated by the burn injury sustained on her leg.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">She described the spillage as &#8220;unintended and accidental&#8221; and ruled the cause of death of Mrs Roberts, a former environmental protection poultry meat inspector, as an accident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Mrs Robertson said to Mrs Pritchard: &#8220;Mam wanted to reach 100 years old. It would have been such a significant milestone for her and for you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">She extended her deepest condolences, adding: &#8220;I hope there are fond memories you can rely upon when the time comes.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An inquest heard that Margaret Eluned Roberts was told she should have been given a cup with a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,11746,3126,3593,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-368255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-north-wales","11":"tag-pensioners","12":"tag-social-care","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115080403913045692","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}