A NURSE has recalled the moment he lost grip of 55-year-old patient who plummeted to his death from a hospital window at the Queen's Medical Centre.
Joseph Tauya smashed a window on the Neuro Spinal Post-Operative Unit on the fourth floor of the hospital and flung himself out.
Yesterday the inquest heard from auxiliary nurse Chris Harvey, who was the last person holding on to Mr Tauya's foot.
He said: "He [Mr Tauya] was shouting 'let me go'. Blood was running down my arm and caused my grip to slip. I saw him fall to the ground.
"There was a sharp intake of breath from the staff on the ward, punctuated by the sound of him hitting the pavement."
The inquest heard how in trying to save the father-of-three, Mr Harvey – who is still off work as a result of the incident – cut his left bicep on a shard of jagged glass which required 30 stitches. The wound was an inch deep and four inches long. Mr Harvey was described as a large, strong man at around 6ft tall.
The inquest also heard from David Holleworth – a clinical support trainer – who said that he found Joseph in an agitated state moments before he jumped.
In Mr Holleworth's statement he detailed how Mr Tauya, originally from Zimbabwe, was trying to leave the ward minutes before he smashed the window.
Mr Holleworth said: "He was saying 'I command you from Jesus to open the door'."
Mr Holleworth also tried to stop Mr Tauya, a devout Christian, from falling.
He said: "Joseph was struggling; I was holding his leg.
"I shouted 'I'm losing him' I was just left holding his jogging bottoms. It was like sand falling through my fingers."
The family attended the hearing yesterday having been absent from the first day's proceedings, and, after some of the witnesses gave evidence, they questioned whether earlier intervention could have prevented the outcome.
The court heard that an injection of the tranquilliser Haloperidol had been drawn up, but medics did not have the chance to administer it.
Mr Tauya, of Braunstone, Leicester, had been married to his wife Moirah for more than 18 years, and leaves behind three children, aged 3, 12 and 17.
A verdict is expected tomorrow.
