Mansfield Woodhouse woman suffered heart attack at the wheel and crashed her car into a wall - killing herself and her elderly mother

A Mansfield Woodhouse woman suffered a massive heart attack at the wheel before ploughing into a wall, killing herself and her elderly mother.
The Morrisons store in Mansfield Woodhouse, close to where the fatal collision took place.The Morrisons store in Mansfield Woodhouse, close to where the fatal collision took place.
The Morrisons store in Mansfield Woodhouse, close to where the fatal collision took place.

Joy Daniels, 67, was driving her red Nissan Micra along Welbeck Road close to the Morrisons store - with her 86-year-old mother Jean May Daniels - when she lost control of the vehicle, a hearing at Nottingham Coroners' court heard today (Friday, April 12).

Witnesses described seeing the vehicle suddenly veer over the carriageway, at around 6.30pm on January 2, crossing over the wrong side of the road, bouncing up the pavement and smashing into the boundary wall of the supermarket.

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They described Joy Daniels losing consciousness as they opened the car door to try and help, while others tried to console Jean May, who was desperate to know that her daughter was alright.

In a statement, witness Alan Pemblington said the vehicle veered in front of him, "hitting the wall at some speed".

"If it had been a couple of metres closer it would have hit me," he said.

He described stopping his own vehicle and going to help the Daniels, along with his daughter Julia, who was travelling with him at the time.

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He said he managed to lift Joy Daniels from the vehicle while his daughter tried to comfort Jean May.

Another witness, Brendan Farrell told the hearing: "The vehicle was full of smoke and smelt of brake fluid. The driver was sat upright when I got there but her eyes were rolling and then she was unconscious.

"The lady in the passenger side kept asking how her daughter was, then I heard someone say that the driver wasn't breathing."

The pair - who lived together on Birkland Avenue, Mansfield Woodhouse - were rushed first to King's Mill Hospital, before being transferred to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre with massive injuries.

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The inquest heard that Joy Daniels had major chest trauma as a result of the crash, while her mother suffered spinal injuries.

Joy died shortly after arriving at the QMC from her injuries on January 3 this year, while her mother developed pneumonia while on the ward, and died later on January 15.

Nottinghamshire Police forensic collision investigator PC David Abbott told the inquest that Joy has not been distracted by a mobile phone and a "medical episode while driving" was the sole cause of the collision. He said that the front end of the vehicle was also severely damaged in the smash.

Recording a conclusion of death by road traffic collision, assistant coroner Lisa Morris said she had ruled out natural causes for Joy Daniels because, despite suffering a heart attack at the wheel, she had lived beyond the initial collision and died later from her injuries.