Mother bleeds to death after tripping over handbag and landing on drinking glass

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:49 AM on 13th July 2010

A mother bled to death when she fell over her handbag on to a glass in a Spanish bar, a coroner heard.

Expatriate Sally Feeley was enjoying a late-night hot chocolate with friends when she tripped over her handbag in a freak accident in Malaga.

The 42-year-old hairdresser fell back onto a table with one glass, which shattered and pierced her left armpit severing an major artery.

Friends frantically battled to stem the bleeding but Ms Feeley, who lived on the Costa del Sol with her 12-year-old son, died in hospital.

The inquest into her death heard from the dead woman's friend Karen Thornton, who also lived in Spain.

She said: 'Three of us had gone out for a few drinks and by the time of the accident we were drinking hot chocolate.

'We were also chatting to an elderly couple who were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.

'Sally stood up to say goodbye to somebody, but she tripped over a handbag and fell back onto a table with one glass.

'The glass smashed when she fell. I thought she would get up, but she did not. Everybody tried to stem the bleeding.'

Following the accident last October, a post-mortem examination was carried out in Spain, which found the 7cm cut severed a major blood vessel running under her armpit.

Birmingham's assistant Deputy Coroner, Michael Snell, said: 'I record that Sally Ann Feeley died as a result of an accident.

'She tripped and fell backwards onto a glass and received a severe stab injury. She died from a haemorrhage received from a laceration to the left armpit.'

Ms Feeley lived with her 12-year-old son Shea in Nerja, on the Costa del Sol.

The hairdresser had moved to Spain from Birmingham six years earlier.
Her brother, Steven Feeley, said: 'She was very outgoing and very popular in Birmingham and Spain.

'She was a really nice girl. She'd do anything for anybody. She was really kind and considerate.

'The most important thing in her life was her son,' said Mr Feeley.

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294272/Mother-bleeds-death-tripping-handbag-landing-drinking-glass.html