Wife killed in chainsaw accident

Garry Brockley

Wife killed in chainsaw accident
By Chris Millar, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 05.05.05
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A woman was killed and virtually beheaded in a horrific chainsaw accident when her husband was knocked off a ladder by the family dog.

Roland Pudney, 56, had been using the chainsaw to prune bushes in his garden when the puppy ran into the stepladder while retrieving a golf ball, causing Mr Pudney to topple over.

His wife, Pauline, who had been holding the ladder steady, was killed instantly when the blade sliced into her neck.

Mrs Pudney, a health and safety officer for Lewisham council, had been holding the base of the step ladder because she was concerned about the possible dangers involved.

It had been thought Mr Pudney had simply slipped, but today he told the inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court that he had been knocked from the ladder by the couple's puppy.

The dog had been fetching a golf ball thrown for it by Mrs Pudney in the garden of their £300,000 home in Eltham.

Sobbing, Mr Pudney told the court: "I started cutting then I just heard a bang and the next thing I remember I was lying on the ground."

At first he had no idea what had happened, but then he saw blood pouring from his wife's neck wound.

Pausing frequently, he said: "I could see blood. She was lying there. She was not moving. I could see that she was hurt, I knew I had to go to the phone." Paramedics arrived but were unable to revive the 57-year-old mother of two.

The tragedy came as Mrs Pudney was considering retiring to spend more time with her husband, who had recently left his job as a company director.

He said: "When they let me back to the garden the next day I saw a golf ball under the branches and I just knew what had happened."

Coroner John Sampson recorded a verdict of accidental death.

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Eric Frei

Sad story, however the above shows that there's one story for work and another for at home.

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Garry Brockley

yes but the insurance companies just see chainsaw accident and hike our prices, thats my problem with this kind of thing.

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maccall

Very sad story, but you're right about that's how it ends up in the insurance companies statistics...

Not chainsaw related, but there was a story about a year ago in a newspaper here about "yet another motorcycle accident" where the reckless driver lost control over his bike, probably due to exessive stretching of the speed limit, and crashed.

True story so far, but what was not told in the paper was that the bike had not passed the annual official safety check (I assume there's a proper English word for that...), annual taxes had not been paid and it was not insured properly. Each one of these facts made it illegal to ride the bike. Furthermore, the driver did not have a drivers license for riding a motorcycle and he was found to have been drinking. The bike was not his, and the owner, who was a somewhat distant friend of the driver, said that he was not aware of that his friend had taken the bike for a ride. That's what you usually say when the bike has been stolen, but you know you will get beat up by the thief later if you actually say so...

Yet in the statistics it's just another bike accident wich will make my own insurace fees rise even more.