Ex-mayor died after heart failed

9:50am Saturday 12th May 2012 in Local

A FORMER Westhoughton mayor died after his heart stopped as he was being taken to hospital by ambulance, an inquest heard.

Ronald Halliwell, who was a Liberal Democrat member of Westhoughton town council from 1999 to 2007, and Mayor in 2004 to 2005, died on February 22.

the 78-year-old was being moved from his home in Henry Street, Westhoughton, to an ambulance when his heart stopped, Bolton Coroner’s Court was told.

the father of two was pronounced dead at the Royal Bolton Hospital later that day.

the inquest heard that the former joiner, who had worked with asbestos, was diagnosed with incurable pulmonary fibrosis five months before his death. He suffered from breathlessness and was being treated with oxygen.

On the day he died, mr Halliwell’s symptoms had worsened and his GP had requested an ambulance to take him to hospital.

at the inquest, mr Halliwell’s wife, Florence, and his daughters, Karen Humphreys and Janet Halliwell, criticised paramedics for asking mr Halliwell to slide down the stairs on his bottom, rather than carry him in a chair.

But deputy coroner Alan Walsh accepted it was up to the paramedics to determine the best way to move a patient.

He recorded a verdict of natural causes and said mr Halliwell’s death was not caused by asbestos.

After the inquest, Mrs Humphreys said: “He put family first every time and gave a lot back to the community. it is a great loss, not just to us but to Westhoughton.”