A ‘KIND and gentle’ Whitchurch father died following a fall in his garden while picking vegetables, an inquest has heard.

Dr Geoffrey Hide, from Whitchurch, died in Basingstoke hospital on November 3 2020 due to a bleed on his brain and blood-thinning medication.

The 84-year-old garden enthusiast was otherwise “fit”, Winchester Coroner's Court was told on Monday (July 26).

His daughter, Liz Hide, described her father as “kind, gentle and well loved by his community.”

The former agricultural researcher had grown up in Whitchurch, and returned to the town following his retirement, when he bought and renovated a house on Winchester Street which had been in his family for 120 years.

His son, John Hide, added: “He was very independent. He lived on his own and was very content. The love of his life was his garden. It was always immaculate and every year he would have huge crops.”

The court was told how Dr Hide was out in his garden picking a lettuce to have with his dinner on the evening of October 30, 2020, when he fell and hit his head.

He managed to make his way back into the house and into bed but was later taken to Basingstoke hospital where scans showed a bleed and bruising in his skull, as well as a spinal bleed, and it was decided that he would not benefit from surgery.

He passed away in hospital four days later.

Dr Hide’s GP described him a “fit 84-year-old man”, however he did suffer from a condition called atrial fibrillation for which he was on blood-thinning medication.

Area coroner Jason Pegg told the court that the medical cause of death was a “traumatic bleed within the skull”, exacerbated by blood thinning medication.

He gave a verdict of accident, adding: “It seems to me that that fall precipitated Mr Hide’s death.

“He was on necessary medication which contributed significantly. It seems to me that had Mr Hide not fallen while cutting his lettuce for his evening meal, he would not have passed away when he did.”

Liz Hide thanked the hospital staff for their care of her father.

She said: “Thank you to all the people who were involved in his care. It was the chaotic time of lockdown and the hospital staff were under huge amounts of pressure. I am hugely grateful for the care they were able to give him.”

Mr Pegg added: “It’s very clear to me that Geoffrey Hide was a very much loved man, and sounds a very interesting man, and I’m sure all his family have fond memories you will treasure forever.”

Dr Hide's family set up a fundraising page in his memory, to raise money for two causes close to his heart: St Michael's Hospice, which cared for his wife Brenda in her final days, and Whitchurch Silk Mill.