Fatal heart attack at restaurant
AFAST food customer died after slipping and suffering leg injuries and a heart attack at McDonald’s in Widnes, an inquest heard.
Beloved father Colin Ainsworth, 43, of Liverpool, had entered the restaurant on Moor Lane on April 25 last year during heavy rain and stepped onto floor tiles.
Witnesses described seeing him fall to his knees then backwards before briefly trying sit up and falling back again.
Bystanders including an off-duty fire officer and a nurse assistant tried to give CPR when they realised what happened as the store manager rang 999 and sent a member of staff to find a defibrillator.
Emma Newhouse, who was eating in the restaurant with friends, told the hearing that the McDonald’s worker rushed to the NHS Urgent Care Centre further along Moor Lane but was refused the use of their defibrillator.
By the time they had found one, paramedics had arrived and were giving CPR. Colin smiled when Miss Newhouse went to help him.
She said: “Colin had walked in opposite us. Colin got by our table and slipped onto his knees. I asked whether he was OK.
“He kind of smiled to laugh it off kind of thing but he like slowly landed on his back.
“I went over, checked if he was OK, checked his pulse because he wasn’t speaking and then the McDonald’s staff said that maybe he should be put in the recovery (position). I don’t know whether they thought that he was choking. We put him into the recovery then I said we needed to start CPR straight away.”
After the off-duty firefighter took over CPR, Miss Newhouse switched to checking Mr Ainsworth’s pulse – and asked for a defibrillator.
She said: “I did shout for a defib but the McDonald’s didn’t have one so one of the McDonald’s staff went to the NHS (urgent care centre) up the road but the NHS actually declined the defib, so we continued doing the CPR until the paramedics came.”
In a statement read out to the inquest, off-duty firefighter Russell Hardman said he had sat down with his food when he heard a commotion and someone telling someone to put a man in the recovery position. The qualified first aider stepped in and gave CPR for roughly around 10-15 minutes until the paramedics arrived and took over.
A statement from McDonald’s duty manager Roy Bartsch said he rang 999 and relayed information back and to and that he also sent a member of staff to find a defibrillator, and that paramedics had taken over the resuscitation before one was retrieved.
Dr Christopher Johnson, pathologist, told the hearing that Mr Ainsworth had suffered various heart and respiratory problems connected to his weight but that he also suffered ‘significant tearing’ to his upper leg muscles as a result of the fall, leading to ‘significant bleeding’.
He said this had contributed to his death.
The pathologist said: “I don’t believe Colin Ainsworth would have been expected to have died when he did or in this manner without sustaining his traumatic injuries.”
He confirmed the description from Heath Westerman, acting assistant coroner for Cheshire, that the ‘injury to the leg wasn’t sufficient to cause death on its own but because of the underlying co-morbidity that Mr Ainsworth had, the effect of that leg injury was too much for his body to take’.
Dr Johnson said the CCTV footage of Mr Ainsworth walking normally into the restaurant before slipping into a ‘split-type’ position. The patient then showed a ‘very rapid collapse’, indicating ‘sudden cardiac arrhythmia’.
He gave a cause of death as cardiac arrest as a result of traumatic leg injuries, and obesity-related heart and breathing problems.
Mr Ainsworth was pronounced dead shortly before 2pm.
Phillip Wilson, Halton Borough Council environmental health officer, testified that his investigation established that the restaurant’s wet risk procedures had been in compliance with the legislation, namely the Health And Safety Act 1974, and that wet floor signs had been in place and staff had been mopping the tiled part of the floor due to the downpour outside, which CCTV footage appeared to show had included hail. He said a mat had been in place on the floor at the foot of the door for wet feet also.
The inquest heard that Mr Ainsworth had left his home in Liverpool at around 10.40am to take the bus to Widnes where he worked at the Tesco warehouse.
He had entered McDonald’s on Moor Lane at around 12.38pm and the slip happened.
His wife Theresa Ainsworth told the inquest that her husband had not felt well the day before and phoned in sick, and had left work early on April 23 due to illness.
In the evening, he had not been his normal talkative self and had not seemed excited about Liverpool’s first leg Champions League match against Roma, which was out of character, but was his usual ‘chatty’ self again on the morning of April 25.
Describing the tragedy’s impact, Mrs Ainsworth said: “My whole world has fallen apart and I feel like I’m carrying a lead weight around me not knowing how he died.
“We are a close family and are supporting each other during this difficult time.”
Mr Westerman gave a conclusion that Mr Ainsworth died of cardiac arrest, caused by traumatic leg injuries, obesityrelated cardiomyopathy, hypoventilation and likely pulmonary hypertension.
He expressed his condolences to the Ainsworth family present and thanked witnesses for attending.
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