A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER who broke her neck falling down a staircase died when she developed pneumonia in hospital, an inquest heard.

Seventy-year-old Zubaida Begum was enjoying a family gathering at her daughter's home in East Street, Bury, in January last year when she fell down the stairs after using the bathroom.

She told family members she had felt dizzy, and believed that had caused her to fall, the inquest heard.

Mrs Begum had been diagnosed with a series of health problems in previous years, including Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, eyesight problems, and severe arthritis.

Her granddaughter, Miss Sadia Jehangir, said Mrs Begum had a cataract operation on her left eye two weeks before the fall, and was scheduled for surgery on her right eye. She would normally have received help from her family to get up the stairs, but did not ask for help on this occasion.

Miss Jehangir said: "She would always try to do things herself. She was a very independent lady and didn't want us to make a fuss."

She also said she believed her grandmother's fall had been caused by the dizzy spell rather than a pre-existing health problem or tripping on the carpet.

Mrs Begum, of Spring Street, Bury, was taken to Fairfield Hospital, where orthopaedic consultant, Mr Ronan McGivney, found she had fractured the top two vertebrae in her neck.

After taking advice from doctors in the spinal unit at Hope Hospital, Mr McGivney fitted Mrs Begum with a neck brace to ensure the bones stayed in place.

However, the trauma of the injury, the immobilisation, and her existing health problems led to Mrs Begum developing bronchial pneumonia, Mr McGivney said.

She died in the hospital on February 6 last year, leaving three daughters and a son, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mrs Begum, who was born and brought up in Pakistan, had been a widow since her husband Pummkhan died in 1993.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Bury coroner Mr Simon Nelson said: "Mrs Begum fell the entire length of the staircase, causing her to sustain a severe injury, which was very serious because of her pre-existing conditions. The cause of her death was bronchial pneumonia brought on by the fracture in her neck. But the event which led to her stay in hospital was the fall, and this is, in my view, the underlying cause of death."