A retired carer from Tavistock died after injuring her spine when she slipped down a bank and fell into a canal during a country walk.

Sarah Martin was walking on her own when the incident happened and she spent a number of hours in the cold water before a passer-by raised the alarm.

An inquest has been opened into her death and was told she was spotted by a member of the public and 999 crews took her to a Plymouth hospital with life threatening injuries.

The canal fall happened on March 22 2023 and the retired palliative carer died a week later on the day she was transferred to a hospice.

 Divorced Sarah, aged 66, of Foundry Mews, Tavistock, died from a traumatic spinal cord injury and aspiration pneumonia.

 A full inquest will be held at a later date. The coroner was told there are no suspicious circumstances.