Pensioner died after drinking toxic water as he clung to pipe after escaping flooded home

Edward Hopkins was overcome by a viral infection and died 18 days later from septicaemia and multi-organ failure, an inquest was told yesterday.

Mr Hopkins, a 66-year-old potter, was engulfed by floodwater rushing into his home in Sedgeberrow, near Evesham, on July 20 last year  -  but managed to escape through a window when the water was 2ft from his kitchen ceiling.

Once outside, he was swept towards a sewage outlet which he grabbed hold of until he was rescued by firefighters and airlifted to hospital.

Desperate: Edward Hopkins escaped from his house when his hometown of Evesham, above, was flooded but died 18 days later after swallowing toxic water

Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying that the water was clearly full of 'bugs, dirt and filth'.

The potter, from Evesham, Worcestershire, who was partially deaf, was swept away as he tried to recover paperwork.

His wife, Veronica, told the hearing in Gloucester that she came home at 3pm that Friday and found their home 'dry and free from water'.

But within 45 minutes, the waves had risen to about 5ft in the house. A brook behind had burst its banks and the road in front had become a river.

She said: 'Water was rushing down the main road and the road was flooded. My husband was recovering documents from kitchen and we thought we had 10 minutes until the brook broke its banks.

'The water met in our lounge. There was a whoosh of water and a geyser effect. There was a crashing from the kitchen as water dislodged pots, pans, and moved furniture.
The furniture blocked his egress from out of kitchen.

'I was really frightened that he was going to drown. I kept shouting but there was no response.'

A neighbour called the emergency services, she said.

Mr Hopkinsmanaged to escape from a casement window through the kitchen, before grabbing a guttering which broke, plunging him into the excrement-polluted water.

He went under several times and had started to 'physically shake' before fire crews reached him in a boat, clutching the waste pipe.

Deluged: Last summer's floods would be 'burned into the memory' of people in Evesham, above, and the surrounding counties, the coroner said

Fireman David Blinston, who swam out to help, said: 'He was holding onto a 3.5in waste pipe. He was soaked, but I didn't know if he had been in the water or was just wet due to rain.'

The officer was prevented from getting closer by the fence so stayed 5ft away, offering the lifejacket to the pensioner, who was hard of hearing.

He said: 'I was wearing a floating suit. I left the boat and approached him. I spoke to him but he didn't appear to understand. I was out of my depth (in the water).

'I managed to make him understand that my suit would keep both of us afloat. I supported him under his armpits. His head at no time went under water.

'We lifted him into the boat with help from a neighbour. We conveyed him to dry land. At no time did he tell me what had happened.'

Another firefighter, Martin Harrison, said the situation was 'frantic but not chaotic'.

The father of two was discharged the day after the freak weather struck, but died in Cheltenham General Hospital on August 7 after rapidly becoming unwell.