Wife died from too much drink on first night of her holiday
A PHARMACY worker died of alcohol poisoning after a bar crawl on the first day of her holiday, an inquest heard.
Paula Bishop, 37, drank wine and beer with her husband Stuart after arriving in Fuerteventura, in the Canary Islands.
She was found dead in her hotel room later that night and blood tests showed she would have been the equivalent of eight times the Spanish drink-driving limit.
Mr Bishop, her husband of 11 years, told how she had had a ‘few small beers,’ two small glasses of wine and up to four Irish coffees before they went to bed the evening before her death.
He said he had no recollection of his wife being excessively drunk or unsteady on her feet but he fears they misjudged the measures she was given by bartenders - and said he hoped the tragic death would be a warning to other people about the dangers of drinking abroad where measures are not controlled.
At an inquest a coroner ruled Mrs Bishop, from Ince, in Wigan, was a victim of alcohol-related death but said she and her husband may not have appreciated how much alcohol they had taken during the day.
The Bolton hearing was told Mrs Bishop worked hard as a senior assistant technical officer in the pharmacy department at the Royal Albert Edward infirmary, in Wigan, and she and her husband ‘lived for their holidays.’
The couple jetted off to the Spanish island on October 20 last year. Mrs Bishop was said to be ‘entirely well’ when, after checking in, the Bishops went to a ‘number of establishments to have a drink’ as they were ‘familiarising themselves with the area.’
In a statement, Mr Bishop said: “For the remainder of the day, afternoon and evening she was fine, she had a sleep in the afternoon, had something to eat at tea-time and was sending pictures to family on her phone and was in touch with loved ones.
“This was a perfect start to what we anticipated would be perfect holiday. She had a few small beers, two small glasses of wine, and three or four Irish coffees – between 10-15 units.
“We went to bed between 10 and 11 and crashed out. I was tired and hadn’t had a sleep in the day-time. My last memory of Paula was going back to the room – nothing out of the ordinary.
“I woke up some time after midnight and found Paula lying on the floor propped up against a chest of drawers. I touched her belly and it was cold and then tried to find a pulse. Her legs had changed colour.”
Paramedics attended and tried resuscitation but she could not be