The family of a loving father who died on Christmas Eve have paid a heartbreaking tribute to him following an inquest into his death.
Alan Samuel John Cocker passed away on December 24 last year at his home in Eccles. The 71-year-old grandfather had battled persistent illnesses for much of his life, a hearing at Bolton Coroner's Court heard.
Coroner, Stephen Teasdale, found that NHS medics made two errors in his care, but these did not contribute to his death. Following the hearing, Mr Cocker’s family paid tribute to former waste recycling manager, describing him as ‘family man who loved life’.
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The court heard that Mr Cocker was diabetic, having been diagnosed during his 30s, and also smoked until roughly 15 years ago, when he quit cigarettes. All in all, he was proactive in managing his condition, daughter Anita Higham told the court.
However, he ran into problems with his health during March 2022, complaining about leg pains. That led to a stay in Salford Royal Hospital during the spring, and was discharged in April.
District nurses managed his condition, which involved wounds being dressed. In one incident, a nurse applied a compression bandage on the affected leg — but after doing so, checked his medical notes and realised that the usually-standard treatment was inappropriate for Mr Cocker, due to his high blood pressure.
“Ideally, you would look at the notes first,” remarked Mr Teasdale. Eccles nursing team leader Rebecca Berry confirmed that the nurse phoned the family ‘on the same day’ telling them to remove the bandage.
His next hospital stay came in late June, after district nurses told him to go to Manchester Royal Infirmary for leg pain, and new ‘purple spots’ which appeared on his skin, Ms Higham added.
His condition worsened in hospital, the court heard, and by late summer, medics were considering amputating his left leg. Mr Cocker and his family agreed to the procedure.
The operation to amputate his left leg below the knee took place on August 23, 2022, but his stump became infected after the procedure.
That led to a second amputation, of his left leg above the knee, on September 12. However, it was after this procedure where doctors made an error.
Mr Cocker had taken blood thinners for a long period to help ease his blood pressure and to facilitate quicker healing of his wounds.
He was prescribed warefin — but this medication cannot be taken for several days before an operation as it stays in the patient’s system, therefore leading to further bleeding in the procedure, Dr Sandhir Kandola, a consultant vascular surgeon at Manchester Royal, confirmed.
However, there was a delay in putting Mr Cocker back on the thinners for 11 days after the operation, it was found.
“That’s accepted,” Dr Kandola said. “It was documented and triggered an investigation within the hospital.”
“He should have been put on heparin and it’s likely that the small blood clots came about as a result of that,” clarified Mr Teasdale. “That’s correct,” the doctor replied.
That meant a procedure to insert a stent in one of Mr Cocker’s veins was also avoidable, the coroner found. However, a post-mortem did not find either this error, or the compression bandage mistake, led to Mr Cocker’s death.
Following his amputation operation, and further debridement procedures, Mr Cocker continued to deteriorate. He was discharged to his home on November 15, with he and his family deciding to focus on palliative, end-of-life care.
In the final weeks of his life, Mr Cocker also injured his toe, but declined hospital treatment.
His cause of death given by pathologist Dr Mohammed Bashir was 1A, pneumonia. His secondary causes were leg wounds, diabetes, and vascular disease.
Doctors at the hearing were unsure how he contracted the lung infection, but recognised it could have come from an existing wound or via an airborne virus. In any event, his past medical history and diabetes made him more ‘susceptible’ to falling ill.
Recording a narrative conclusion, Mr Teasdale said: “He died as a consequence of naturally occurring pneumonia contributed to by diabetes, leg wounds, and peripheral vascular disease.”
Following the hearing, Mr Cocker’s family paid tribute to him, saying: “Alan was a loving husband, amazing dad and grandad. He was a family man who loved life.
"He was a fighter to the very end and is sadly missed by everyone that knew him. His family will continue to fight on for him."
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