A FATHER who fell down a flight of stairs suffered a fatal heart attack days later, after his lungs became punctured and filled with blood-stained fluid, an inquest heard.

Dhirajlal Taylor fell down the stairs of his cellar at his home in Malborough Street, Heaton, on October 29, 2012.

The 65-year-old was kept overnight at Royal Bolton Hospital for observation and discharged the following day — only to be taken to hospital again on Wednesday, October 31, after he told family members he was in a lot of pain.

An inquest heard how the father-of-three, who emigrated to the UK from Kenya when he was 16, seemed initially to be improving in hospital — apart from suffering persistent hiccups.

But when his daughter Sarika Taylor went to visit him on Saturday, November 3, she was told by staff that her father had blood in his chest and he was struggling to breathe.

He later suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.

Bolton Coroners Court heard how on his first visit to A&E, consultant Dr Christopher Moulton saw that Mr Taylor, a retired factory worker, had hairline fractures on two of his ribs.

But at the time of his death he had three fractured ribs, and the middle one was significantly displaced. This could have punctured a major blood vessel, causing Mr Taylor’s lungs to fill with blood and fluid.

A pathology report said he had died from an acute haemothorax due to fractured ribs.

Giving evidence Dr Moulton said: “Rib fractures are notoriously difficult to see on an x-ray, and the number of rib fractures is often very hard to determine.

“I think it was very, very unlikely that there was displacement of the ribs at that time. Subsequent displace-ment, especially with bleeding, is an extremely rare complication.”

Coroner Alan Walsh gave a narrative verdict as injuries sustained in an accidental fall.

He rejected calls by the family’s solicitors to issue a Regulation 26 — which would have asked Royal Bolton Hospital to improve their training of thorax trauma cases — saying that all the necessary steps were taken by physicians.