A WOMAN has died after falling into the River Thames while attempting to enter her houseboat after a dinner date.

Dorothy Crawford, 75, lived with her husband Trevor in a houseboat which was moored off a jetty in Maidenhead.

The incident occurred in the early hours of February 19 when the pair returned from a dinner at the Windsor Marina Club House.

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A pre-inquest opening at Berkshire Coroner’s Court on Tuesday (September 19) heard that Mrs Crawford was ‘a little inebriated’ when she left the dinner.

Assistant coroner Ian Wade KC said: “In the late evening, Trevor was in the act of pulling the boat closer to the jetty and Dorothy tried to stop onto the boat before it was quite close enough.

“Trevor saw her slip and fall into the water. He jumped in after her. Although he was able to hold her and keep her afloat, he noticed she appeared to go into shock and stopped breathing.

“Ambulance and police attended and was pulled from the water and the ambulance service were able to find a pulse but she went into cardiac arrest on route to Wexham Park Hospital.

“She was resuscitated on the journey but once inside the emergency department she suffered another cardiac arrest and she could not be resuscitated.”  

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Her cause of death was offered as acute heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and neurogenic shock due to sudden water immersion.

A full inquest will take place on November 2 at 10am.