OAP Marshall Silverwood choked to death on rubber glove in Trentham nursing home
A RETIRED teacher choked to death at a care home after eating a rubber glove.
Staff tried to revive 81-year-old Marshall Silverwood after discovering him slumped backwards on a dining room chair at Selwyn House nursing home, in Trentham.
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But the pensioner, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, showed no signs of life. It was only later when a post-mortem examination was carried out that the latex surgical glove was found blocking his airways.
Staffordshire Police's major investigations department was called in and cleared the home of any wrongdoing.
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Now the home has tightened up security procedures following Mr Silverwood's death on July 4 last year.
Andrew Silverwood told yesterday's inquest into his father's death: "It was just one of those weird accidents."
The inquest heard it was unclear how Mr Silverwood had got hold of one of the gloves, which staff carried in their pockets for hygiene and infection control.
It may have accidentally fallen on to the floor or Mr Silverwood may have taken it from a pocket without the person noticing.
He was known as a 'magpie' and would squirrel away items mistakenly thinking they were his own.
Lancashire-born Mr Silverwood was also often spotted carrying a German dictionary and would shout in perfect German when he got annoyed.
His family could only recall one occasion, before he lived at the home, when he had tried to eat something inappropriate.
Andrew Silverwood, of Walton-on-the-Hill, Stafford, said: "He had picked up a letter and stuffed it into his mouth. I think it was more melodrama than loss of control."
He stressed his father, who moved into Selwyn House's dementia care unit in 2010, had received good care there.
Unit manager Elizabeth Eardley said: "There was no past medical history of him attempting to eat objects that weren't of nutritional value."
The inquest heard unused gloves were stored in a locked linen room and others were disposed of securely.
But Miss Eardley added: "Due to the nature of the unit, it wouldn't be unusual for a member of staff to carry some gloves in their pocket."
The cause of death was found to be asphyxia.
Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, North Staffordshire coroner Ian Smith said: "For whatever reason, best known to himself, Mr Silverwood started to eat the glove.
"In his advanced state of Alzheimer's, who knew what was going through his mind?"
Comments
by BinDiver
Wednesday, July 04 2012, 1:12PM
“As a general point, we really are facing a ticking time bomb when it comes to how we care for our elderly people. The care homes, even with all the best intentions, are under severe strain and are having to charge ridiculously high fees because of the lack of government help. That makes it harder for people to afford and worse for us all.”