A DIABETES sufferer died after hitting his head when he collapsed at Newgate Market in York, an inquest has heard.

John Joseph Clarke, 59, of Tang Hall Lane, York, banged his head after suffering a hypoglycaemic collapse while out shopping with his wife, Sally.

Mrs Clarke saw her husband fall to the floor after leaving him briefly to go into a shop. An off-duty GP helped to care for Mr Clarke until paramedics arrived to take him to York Hospital.

Mr Clarke, an unemployed customer service assistant, was transferred to hospital in Hull but although a blood clot was removed from his brain it was badly damaged, the inquest heard.

His condition deteriorated and he died on May 4, 2010, two days after his collapse.

In a statement read to the inquest, Helen Rebecca Carr, a paramedic at the scene of Mr Clarke’s fall, said: “His wife had left him a couple of minutes while she popped into a shop. He had not complained that he felt unwell prior to her leaving him.”

The court heard Mr Clarke had a good awareness of hypoglycaemia and seemed to be managing his Type 2 diabetes, although his blood glucose control was not always good.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Donald Coverdale said the cause of Mr Clarke’s death was recorded as cerebral hypoxia caused by hypoglycaemic collapse and diabetes.

Mr Coverdale said: “In falling to the ground he did strike his head and suffered a significant head injury.

“The immediate cause of death was this head injury.”