THE FAMILY of a man who died after suffering brain haemorrhage have thanked the police and paramedics who tried to save his life.
Anthony David Sparks, known as Tony to family and friends, died in December at the Royal Berkshire Hospital after falling ill at his home in Stanton Close, Earley.
An inquest into his death, held at Reading Town Hall on March 16, heard how Mr Sparks had called the police himself on the morning of December 4, telling them he needed help.
Mr Sparks, who lived alone but had regular contact with his brother, sister and brother-in-law, had suffered a history of allergic reactions, and would often have a swollen face, neck and lips, but he kept plenty of antihistamines at his home.
Thames Valley Police sergeant Peter O’Brien, from Loddon Valley Police Station, said in a statement that he was called to Mr Spark’s home at 11.52am, but was beaten there by his colleague PC Colley. The female police officer had received no reply when she arrived at the address, and looked through the letterbox to see Mr Sparks lying on the floor. She smashed a window to get in and commenced CPR until paramedics arrived shortly afterwards.
An internal defibrillator which Mr Sparks had fitted some years earlier had shocked him ‘three or four times’, but he still had no pulse by the time paramedics arrived. Paramedics also noted how his face and lips were swollen, so he was injected with adrenalin in case he was suffering from anaphylactic shock.
Mr Sparks was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital by ambulance, and his brother Barry was called, but by the time he reached his brother’s side it was too late. He was declared dead at 12.57pm.
A medical history report revealed that Mr Sparks had received treatment for blood cancer in the past, a diagnosis of idiopathic angioedema which accounted for the swelling in his face, neck and lips, and had been diagnosed with high blood pressure which led to the internal defibrillator being fitted, but a post-mortem concluded that none of these past problems contributed to his death.
The pathologist Dr Kingston revealed that a scan of Mr Spark’s brain showed bleeding on the brain, caused by a traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, and a laceration to the back of his head which would suggest that he had suffered an unwitnessed fall and struck his head.
The coroner, Peter Bedford, said: “People fall, most of the time you can just pick yourself up, dust yourself down and feel a little bit embarrassed, but on this occasion that was not the case.
“It is just one of those awful, awful things.”
Mr Bedford concluded that Tony Sparks died from a traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage which was caused by an accidental fall.
Mr Spark’s brother-in-law Robert Whatmeugh said: “The family would like to express their thanks to the police officer and ambulance crew who did everything they could to save Tony, in particular the female police officer who broke into his house in an attempt to save him.
“It is clear from the evidence that they did everything they could to save Tony’s life but sadly it appears that all of their efforts were not successful.”
