A British tourist’s last night in Cape Town ended in tragedy when he fell to his death walking up the stairs to his lodgings.
Neil Anthony Woodcock and friends had returned from a celebration at a nearby restaurant to a double-storey Gordon’s Bay house at about 11pm on Tuesday when he apparently lost his balance and fell 3.5 metres.
“Our advanced life support paramedics tried for nearly an hour to resuscitate him, but unfortunately he died on the scene due to serious head injuries,” Netcare 911 spokeswoman Lauren Copley said.
She said the cause of death was unclear. All they knew was that he had walked up the stairs one moment, and the next, he fell and died.
Woodcock was due to return to Britain yesterday.
Police spokesman Gert van der Merwe said his friends reported he had been drinking, but didn’t say how much, adding: “They also said that he had had heart problems.”
In a separate incident, a 70-year-old man died from a suspected heart attack during a workout at a popular Durbanville gym.
Johannes Bezuidenhout was running on the treadmill around 7.30am when he passed out and fell to the ground. He later died. Copley said paramedics had spent more than an hour attempting to resuscitate him.
Gym manager Os van Heerden said Bezuidenhout had been a regular at the facility. The incident, which took place just after 7.30am, had forced management to close the gym.
He said that, when Bezuidenhout collapsed, staff ran to his assistance.
“We did the best we could to help him until the paramedics arrived, but?”
Professor Mike Lambert from the Sports Science Institute said it was highly likely Bezuidenhout had had an underlying medical condition.
Although there are added risks for elderly people who exercise, the advantages of exercising far outweigh the negatives, he said.
However, someone who never exercised needed to consult a doctor before engaging in strenuous exercise.
“Walking and stretching is the best combination. These people need to be checked (by a doctor) and start exercising gradually. Don’t overdo it,” Lambert said.
* This article by Michelle Pietersen was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on September 02, 2010