Edward Hopkins Tribute

Edward Hopkins, 66, was found clinging to a sewer pipe, soaked through, after the torrent tore through his home in Sedgeberrow, Evesham, Worcestershire.

The potter, who was partially deaf, was hugging the waste pipe outside his home in The Yard on July 20 last year, having been swept away after recovering paperwork.

Eighteen days after his rescue by a fireman in a floating suit, he died of septicaemia caused by a viral infection.

Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying that the water was clearly full of "bugs, dirt and filth".

Mr Hopkins' wife, Veronica, told the hearing in Gloucester that she came home at 3pm that Friday and found their home "dry and free from water".

But within 45 minutes the waves had risen to four or five feet in the house. A brook behind had burst its banks and the road in front had become a river.

She said: "My husband was recovering documents from kitchen and we thought we had 10 minutes until the brook broke its banks.

"The water met in our lounge. There was a whoosh of water and a geyser effect.

"There was a crashing from the kitchen as water dislodged pots, pans, and moved furniture. The furniture blocked his egress from out of kitchen.

"I was really frightened that he was going to drown."

He managed to escape from a casement window through the kitchen, before grabbing a guttering which broke, plunging him into the excrement-polluted water.

He went under several times and had started to "physically shake" before fire crews reached him in a boat, clutching the waste pipe.

Recording his verdict, Mr Crickmore said: "I am satisfied he died of multi-organ failure due to septicaemia, and I'm satisfied that that was caused by a viral infection he caught as a result of ingesting floodwater.

"Floodwaters carry with them all sorts of toxic elements - it passed through fields where animals were grazing and defecating and came up through sewers and storm drains.

"It is hardly surprising that people who swallow water like that are placed at risk."

Mr Crickmore added that he wanted the bravery of the firemen in the floods to be recognised in a court for the first time.

After the hearing, Russell Hopkins, 34, said: "Eddie Hopkins was a much loved husband, father, grandfather and potter who is greatly missed by many people."