Leonard Wooldridge – who died of his injuries three months after the fall – had climbed out of the kitchen window of his accommodation and fallen from a ledge.
Speaking after his inquest at Norfolk Coroner’s Court this week, his family said they would never know what had caused him to clamber out of the window.
The hearing was told Mr Wooldridge, a retired mechanic and taxi driver, had gone on holiday to India with two friends and had drunk about seven pints before going back to his flat.
His friends stayed out but when they returned 20 minutes later, they found police at the apartment complex and were told their friend had fallen from a window.
The court heard how Mr Wooldridge, from Gorleston, had travelled to India with friends Colin and Kevin for a month-long holiday.
They flew from Heathrow after having some lagers before they continued drinking beer on their journey.
Upon arrival in Goa, they got a taxi to their accommodation at Heritage Exotica Apartments and checked into their apartment, where they were all staying together.
The trio then hired mopeds and went off to explore the local area.
They stopped in a bar and had some Budweisers before stopping at another bar to have some more lagers.
The father-of-four then went back to the apartment alone.
After his fall, on March 1, 2023, Mr Wooldridge was admitted to Goa Medical College.
He was put on a ventilator and spent 51 days in an intensive care unit.
In April, his family flew out to visit him in Goa and were told to expect the worst.
Within two weeks, however, his condition had improved and the family set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help fund his repatriation to the UK.
He had a flight booked back to the UK on June 18, 2023, but died in hospital two days before the scheduled flight.
A post-mortem examination at the hospital gave the medical cause of death as bilateral consolidation of the lungs and head injury.
Concluding an inquest into his death at Norfolk Coroner’s Court, area coroner Yvonne Blake said: “He seems to have had an accident.
“He climbed out of a window rather unwisely given his age, the size of the window and having seven pints.
“He was walking on a very narrow surface for some reason. He slipped and fell and landed two floors below on a hard surface, and sustained severe injuries.
“He died from an accident. I don’t know the extent that alcohol played in this. I am going to say that his death was as a result of an accident and fall.”
‘LIVE AND SOUL OF THE PARTY’
Leonard Wooldridge, born in Great Yarmouth, had four children and was a retired mechanic.
In his later years he got a licence with Great Yarmouth Borough Council to be a taxi driver.
He enjoyed going on holiday with his family and spent lots of his savings on travel.
Steph Swithenbank, his daughter, said of her father: “He was the life and soul of the party. A mechanic extraordinaire. He was kind, funny and generous.
“This event completely shattered us as a family. We send our love and gratitude to our friends and community for the GoFundMe campaign. Although we could not bring him home we miss him always.
“We will never find out the reason why he decided to climb out of the window. He is ultimately responsible for his own actions.
“He loved his holidays. He had been to Spain, the Canary Islands and Egypt. India was the furthest he had ever been.
“As children we always had holidays, whether it was to Devon or Cornwall. We have got some very fond memories of our childhood.
“He was quite a character. He was quite adventurous and when he was 60 he went to Silverstone. He also did paragliding in his seventies when he went out to Turkey.
“We always think about him.”
