Woman, 87, died after being hit by Morrisons supermarket door Published duration 8 August 2017

image copyright Google image caption The incident happened outside the Morrisons store in Caernarfon

An 87-year-old woman died after being knocked over by automatic doors at a supermarket, an inquest has heard.

Nesta Thomas, from Caernarfon, fell and hit a metal barrier as she left her local Morrisons on 11 February 2016, the hearing in Caernarfon was told.

She refused an ambulance but died eight days later after it was found she had fractured a vertebrae in her spine.

A pulmonary embolism due to deep vein thrombosis caused by the fracture was given as the cause of death.

A conclusion of accidental death was recorded and Morrisons, who was not represented at the case, has since installed sliding doors.

Mrs Thomas' daughter Christine told the hearing the door gave her "a heck of a shove".

The day after the incident, Mrs Thomas was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor complaining of back pain where it was discovered she had fractured a vertebrae in her spine.

Blood clot

However, she had been suffering a chest infection, which doctors thought was getting worse, so they decided to concentrate on treating that first.

Doctor Mark Lord, who conducted the post mortem examination, said he found no evidence of a chest infection.

image copyright Google image caption Sliding doors have since been installed at the store

But he did find fragments of a blood clot, which could have been mistaken for an infection.

He concluded she died of a pulmonary embolism due to deep vein thrombosis, caused by being immobile because of the fracture.

"If she hadn't been immobile, she would not have had the clots," he said.

Coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

A Morrisons spokesman said: "We were sad to hear about the passing of Mrs Thomas and our sympathies are with her family."