The story of Barbara Bolton has overwhelmed the British population in recent days. This 87-year-old woman, a resident of the town of Bury, near Manchester, died in early January due to pneumonia caused by hypothermia. According to the investigation, the cause of the illness was that he did not turn on the heating for fear of high bills.
The story goes back to December 11, 2022, when the family was unable to contact Barbara. Then, her grandson went to her house and found her passed out in the kitchen. According to The Guardian, when the doctors arrived the woman had a body temperature of only 28 degrees (the usual temperature is 36.5). Barbara herself was transferred to Fairfield Hospital in Bury, where she ended up dying on January 5th.
The Rochdale Coroner’s Court, responsible for the investigation, acknowledges in its report that the family worried about her and that the decision not to turn on the heating was solely Barbara’s. “What emerges from the hospital’s statements and from yours is that the family cared and cared for her mother,” her son, Mark Bolton, assured. In the hospital notes it was recorded that the woman did not turn on the heating “for fear of high energy bills,” the investigation collects, according to the British media.
“It seems clear that what happened was not due to the fact that the family did not encourage her to turn on the heating. She was obsessed with this matter no matter what they told her,” says the coroner. “For some reason, she had become entrenched in the idea that she couldn’t turn on the heat and it didn’t matter what she was told. She wasn’t going to do anything different,” he concludes.
For his part, Mark Bolton acknowledged that “the care at Fairfield Hospital was excellent and they did their best for her.” “She was very stubborn and very proud. Everything had to be done her way,” explained the son, who stressed that Barbara was a big fan of Manchester City and that she was working until she was 82 years old.
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