DETROIT: An elderly resident died after a skilled nursing home worker accidentally opened a toilet door and caused a fatal head injury, a coroner has ruled.
The pensioner was found collapsed in her room and later died in a hospital.
Following an inquest into her death, the Coroner ruled that the resident died from a head injury caused by the ‘inadvertent impact’ with the toilet door around seven hours before her death.
The healthcare worker told the inquest he opened the door because he wanted to make sure the window was closed.
The toilet lights, which were controlled by movement sensors, were off and he believed nobody was inside.
He said: “I had hold of the handle. When I pushed the door, it hit her on the head and she said, ‘ouch’ and I pulled it back. When I looked around the door, I could see her rubbing her head.”
The inquest heard the same resident had suffered another bump to her head when another worker opened a toilet door into her three weeks earlier…