An elderly woman who refused to put her heating on due to “fears of high energy bills” died after suffering from profound hypothermia, an inquest has heard.
Barbara Bolton, 87, ignored the pleas of her family to put the heating on at her terraced house in Bury, Greater Manchester, the hearing was told.
Medics found Mrs Bolton had a body temperature of just 28C, compared with the normal 37C.
She was discovered slumped at her kitchen table unable to speak by her grandson in December 2022.
She was taken to Fairfield Hospital in Bury but died of pneumonia brought on by hypothermia on 5 January.
“It’s clear she was fixated on the worry of putting her heating on no matter what anyone was saying to her,” senior coroner Joanne Kearsley told Mrs Bolton’s son Mark Bolton.
“No matter what anyone was telling her, she wasn’t going to do anything differently.”
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The inquest heard that hospital notes recorded Mrs Bolton had deliberately not turned her heating on “for fear of high energy bills”.
In his statement read to the court, Mr Bolton said he spoke to his mother every day, and visited her often.
He added the family had even bought her heaters but she would only put these on when the family came round.
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He described that she had only given up work as a Tesco pharmacy assistant at the age of 82, and medical evidence presented to the court said she hardly visited a GP in her life.
He told the hearing his mother was “old school” and added: “It was my way or no-one’s way with my mum.”
He said he worked in mountain rescue and knew how dangerous hypothermia can be.
Recording a conclusion of misadventure, the coroner said: “She seemed like quite a remarkable woman, still working at 82.”
Hypothermia is a medical emergency that occurs when the body temperature drops dangerously below 35C, the NHS says.
