Coroner rules death of Cardiff Optometrist, 28, accidental

Ellen Hitchings, a 28 year old optometrist from Cardiff, died accidentally following a fall a coroner in South Wales has recorded.

Hitchings had spent a night out with friends planning a trip to Africa with a vision charity, the South Wales Argus reported. In the early hours of June 20 she was discovered by her parents at home, with bruising to her face. She was sitting at the bottom of the stairs but told her parents she was fine and went to bed.

Shortly after she was found in the bathroom and had been sick, her parents put her back to bed and monitored her through the morning. At 11.30 an ambulance was called when she could not be roused. A post-mortem revealed she has suffered a fractured skull and died from a haemorrhage. The senior coroner for Gwent said her injury was compatible with a fall and recorded a verdict of accidental death.