South Yorkshire Times, May 23rd, 1970
Patient Would Feel He Was Walking On Cotton Wool
Pathologist at pit death inquest
A verdict of “accidental death” was returned on a 44-years-old Bolton colliery worker at a Goldthorpe inquest last Friday, Anthony (Tony) Ganley, of 35, Chapel Street, Bolton, was killed in an accident at Barnburgh Main Colliery on May 4th, and an inquest was opened on Friday week (May 8th). It was however later adjourned to allow for further medical examination of the body.
Pathologist Dr. Glynn D. Powell said at Friday’s hearing that further examination had shown there was in fact degeneration of the spinal column, as was indicated in the previous week’s evidence and confirmed the initial diagnosis.
Dr. Powell said that this degeneration would affect the deceased in three main ways. He would experience a loss of sensation, a loss of feeling and pain and a loss of muscle sense part in the legs. These affects, he said, would worsen over a long period.
Severe Conditions
Describing the condition as severe, he continued: “In advanced cases as this one appeared to be there would be a definite loss of positioning in space. The patient would feel that he was walking on cotton wool and would not know quite where his legs were. He would tend to walk in a peculiar manner. He added that the condition would be worsened in the dark. The patient had good eyesight and relied on that for his balance. If he was in a dark place or shut his eyes he would overbalance because of his loss of sense of stability.
The Doncaster Coroner Mr. Kenneth Potter, said that Mr. Ganley had been at the colliery for some years and was an experienced man. He was working on haulage in the Winter Horizon Drift concerned with the shunting of mine cars. He was particularly concerned with a train of empties, a single line track and a set of points further down the track. However, he had to retain pressure on a switch operating the connection of the locomotive and trucks. Everything seemed perfectly normal. Then he had to go down a short distance to his left to operate the points. He had no need to go in front of the car in between the locomotive and the first truck. The driver looked back to see that the cars were detached.”
By Mine Car
The driver and another man both saw that there was a bump of the first mine car as they looked back. They then knew that something was wrong.
The saw that the first mine car had run over the deceased and the second was stuck, “It was clear that he had not gone to change the points. We must conclude that he fell forward. No-one can be certain just what happened but he should not have had to go in front of the mine car. At this stage there is still some momentum in the mine cars. How this man came to be in front of the first car is still not clear.
There is nothing to suggest that this man would do this deliberately. There is nothing to indicate he would take such a step.”
Freedom in the past
“Certainly, this procedure has been carried out for many years without a grievous accident. It came out clearly at the opening that this inability was not appreciated by the Coal Board.”
After the verdict, representatives of the N.C.B., Barnburgh Main Colliery employees and union, and Mr. Potter on behalf of the eight-man jury, offered their sympathy to Mr. Ganley’s widow and family. Mr. Potter described him as a man who “obviously liked his work and who was prepared to work.”