Former headteacher, 61, died after fall while out running near French home

A RETIRED headteacher who went to live in France died after falling heavily while out running, an inquest heard yesterday.

Roger Walker, 61, set off on his usual 10km (six-mile) run on the morning of November 29, last year from his home in Salernes, Provence, and was later found dead near a bridge.

Prof Peter Vanezis told Bradford Coroner's Court that initially it was thought Mr Walker had died from a heart attack but he was found to have suffered five fractured ribs and had bled into his abdominal area from kidney damage.

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Prof Vanezis said: "I can't explain how he may have fallen, he may have slipped, there is no evidence that anyone else was involved in his death."

Questioned further by Mr Walker's brother-in-law, retired surgeon Edward Benson, Prof Vanezis said: "It was a really heavy fall." He added that he had not fallen from any great height but fell on "an uneven surface" which caused his injuries.

Prof Vanezis said Mr Walker could have walked or crawled quite a distance until he died.

In her statement read to the court by Deputy Assistant Coroner Tim Ratcliffe, the dead man's sister Sandra Haynes said her brother had moved to France in 2004 and had lived with a partner, Bruce Potter. She said: "His routine was to go for a run every day except Saturday."

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After his death she visited the area with her sister Jacqueline Benson and was shown the beauty spot where he was found.

She said: "The police didn't express a view about where he had fallen.

"It's a possibility that he could have lost his footing and fallen on his back."

Mr Ratcliffe said: "It's pure speculation in the police report that he was running across a bridge and in some way lost balance and tripped and came into contact with wires or brackets on a suspension bridge and that the damage could have been caused by the metal components on the bridge, a Monet-style bridge, that was on his normal run."

Mr Ratcliffe recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said: "He was a very fit man, a very meticulous runner. He fell while he was running and that fall caused the injury to his left kidney.."

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