Mexborough and Swinton Times in January 13, 1928

Thurnscoe Miner’s Death

Question of an Old Accident

Mr Frank Allen held an inquest at the Mexborough Hospital on Monday into the death of Percival Parker (30), miner of 52, Norman Street, Thurnscoe East, who died in the hospital on Friday.

Mrs Lilley Parker (widow) said her husband was taken ill on Christmas Eve, and after treatment by Doctor Doyle, was admitted to a the Mexborough hospital where he died on January 6. In July 1923, he was injured in the Hickleton Main Colliery. He was lifting up a tub and injured his back, which caused him pain ever since. He had been receiving compensation up to the time of his death, and being on and off work. Since July had worked regularly, but during the whole of 1926 he was on partial compensation. Previous to the accident he was in perfect health.

Doctor J.A.R.Lee said he held a post-mortem examination. The cause of death was acute pneumonia and there were also signs of acute pleurisy. He had been told of the accident but could not find no traces of it. The action could not have led to the pneumonia.

Mr Starkey (for the Y.M.A.): You say that you could not find any traces of the accident. We have an x-ray photograph taken and they show that there is a chip off the man’s spine.

– That could not give pneumonia.

Mr Starkey: Would not that lower the man’s vitality and make him susceptible to disease?

– No. I’ve known cases where men have lived for 20 and 30 years after an accident to the spine which even caused deformity.

The coroner said they were not medical men and could only base a verdict on the medical evidence. The verdict they gave was not final. The case could go before a County Court judge who would say whether compensation was to be allowed or not.

The jury returned a verdict of “Death from natural causes.”