A mother of two children who fell from a tall stool in a hotel bar initially downplayed the incident and declined assistance before being discovered unresponsive the following morning and swiftly taken to a hospital where she succumbed to a severe brain injury.
Kadie Hunt, aged 38, tumbled off a bar stool at the boutique Welbeck Manor and golf hotel in Sparkwell, Devon, after an afternoon of drinking with her cousin and friends. Surveillance footage captured Kadie consuming three pints of lager, a double gin and tonic, and four glasses of wine during the afternoon. Kadie, a frequent guest at the hotel, suffered a fatal head injury after falling off the stool and hitting her head on a marble fireplace.
An inquest at Exeter Coroner’s Court revealed that a staff member had turned away momentarily before hearing a crash, witnessing Kadie’s fall and subsequent impact. Although Kadie declined help to get up and seemed embarrassed, she appeared unharmed and dismissed the incident. The next morning, Kadie was found unresponsive at her home, and despite being rushed to a Plymouth hospital, her condition worsened, leading to her passing due to a traumatic head injury.
The inquest disclosed that Kadie, a Plymouth native living in Sparkwell, heavily consumed alcohol as a coping mechanism for grief and life challenges. Witnesses noted that she seemed coherent and talkative at the bar, and even after the fall, she retained her phone in hand and appeared unaffected by the incident. CCTV footage later revealed Kadie stumbling and striking her head on the marble fireplace surround. Her death was attributed to a traumatic brain bleed consistent with the fall onto a hard surface.
Medical reports indicated that Kadie’s death resulted from a traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage with traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, a form of stroke involving bleeding around the brain. Authorities ruled out any foul play in the incident.
The coroner for Devon, Alison Longhorn, pointed out that Kadie, who worked as a mortuary assistant, had a significant alcohol intake of up to 70 units per week and was heavily intoxicated at the time of the fall. The conclusion was accidental death exacerbated by alcohol intoxication.
Kadie’s mother, Shirley, expressed surprise at her daughter’s posthumous organ donation, highlighting Kadie’s selflessness even in death. Shirley emphasized Kadie’s legacy of saving lives through organ donation and praised the medical team for their swift and compassionate actions.
Following Kadie’s tragic passing, a spokesperson from Welbeck Manor extended condolences to her family and friends, expressing deep sorrow over her death and acknowledging Kadie’s positive presence among the hotel staff.
