NURSES have recalled the moment they tried to hold on to the legs of a 55-year-old hospital patient as he hurled himself through a window.
A team of nurses and doctors on the fourth-floor neurological ward at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre held on to Joseph Tauya's legs for about seven minutes before they lost grip and he dropped to the ground and died on March 1 last year, an inquest heard.
Giving evidence, staff nurse Annamma Paul said it was "horrific and heartbreaking" to watch. "I was holding on to his legs," she said. "My arms were started to get tired. It was horrific."
The court heard that Ms Paul had since suffered from post-traumatic stress as a result of the graphic nature of Mr Tauya's death.
The day before he died, the father-of-three had undergone an operation to remove a malignant tumour on his brain.
The operation had gone well, but the inquest heard that after surgery, Mr Tauya's sporadically suffered from euphoric and paranoid episodes.
One reason cited for this was the strong steroid medication he was prescribed to reduce brain swelling.
One of the side effects of this drug, dexamethasone, the inquest was told, was that it could lead patients to have disturbing thoughts.
Another nurse, Rowena Pulk, who gave evidence yesterday – the first day of the four-day hearing – said that in the build-up to his death, Mr Tauya, originally from Zimbabwe, had been pacing up and down the ward and had tried to leave.
She said: "He was banging on the door and shouting 'Jesus is in me, I am the saviour'."
It was after this that he leapt on to the window ledge in the ward and smashed a window at around 1.30pm on March 1 last year. A doctor and around 20 people on the ward came to try to pull Mr Tauya away from danger.
"I remember my arms starting to hurt and losing grip," said Ms Pulk
"I could see his hands trying to take my hands away. He was trying to get away from us."
The court heard that in trying to save Mr Tauya, many of the nurses and doctors injured themselves on jagged glass, and that Ms Pulk had also suffered psychologically from what had happened.
Coroner Miss Mairin Casey said: "I am already of the opinion from the independent police investigation that there was nothing more they could have done to prevent what happened."
A pathologist recorded the cause of death as multiple injuries.
Mr Tauya of Braunstone, Leicester, had been married to his wife Moira for more than 18 years and also left three children, aged 3, 12 and 17.
The inquest continues.
