Tragic fall of Ilkeston window cleaner, Bill Wilson
A WINDOW cleaner died after falling from a roof on
his weekly round.
Bill Wilson was found on a patio with head injuries, after
he fell just 10ft from a bay window at a house in Ilkeston.
A neighbour raised the alarm after hearing the 58-year-old
calling for help. Paramedics took him to Nottingham's Queen's
Medical Centre where he later died while undergoing
surgery.
An inquest has been opened but Mr Wilson's wife, Terry, says
she fears she may never discover what caused her husband's
fall.
The 54-year-old said: "He had fallen four times before but
it was nothing serious. He was careful and he could not work on
certain days because of the weather.
"You can get into trouble by over-reaching and UPVC frames
can be slippery. I think it was windy that day and that may
have had something to do with it, but I don't think we will
ever know.
"Bill was a lovely man who never had a bad word to say about
anyone.
"He loved his family, his DIY and he loved going
walking.
"The pair of us often walked in the Peak District and his
favourite place was Chatsworth.
The accident happened last Tuesday as Mr Wilson, who had a
weekly round in Ilkeston since 1991, was cleaning the windows
of a house in Audley Close.
He was discovered on the patio by Sharon Caulfield, who
heard him calling for help.
Mrs Caulfield, 45, said: "I went out into the garden and
could hear this voice saying 'help me, help me'.
"So I raced next door, where I could see a man lying on his
side.
"I called for a neighbour to call 999 and went round to see
him.
"He was drifting in and out of consciousness."
Mrs Caulfield, who is a supervisor at St Thomas Catholic
School, Ilkeston, put a towel beside his injured head and
stayed with him until paramedics arrived.
Doctors at the Queen's Medical Centre found he had a blood
clot. He died during an operation.
Mr Wilson, whose round was mainly concentrated in the
Shipley View estate, was a popular figure among his customers
for his reliability and diligence.
One customer, Margaret Fairlie, 82, of Manners Road,
Ilkeston, said: "He was a lovely man.
"He was a very good window cleaner and a pleasant
fellow.
"You knew that he would always be here when he said he would
be, unless the weather was very bad.
"We would chat about his family and his holidays. We often
had a bit of banter."
Neighbour Hazel Straw, 70, said: "He did a very good job and
it is very sad to hear this."
Mr Wilson lived with his wife in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire,
and had four children – Ben 21, Ruth, 27, Vikki, 34, and
36-year-old Ruth.
He had been a fitter working on the surface at Linby
Colliery, in Nottinghamshire.
When the colliery closed, he } decided to go into window
cleaning because of his love of the outdoors.
Ilkeston was his biggest window-cleaning round but he also
had rounds in Eastwood, Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Mr Wilson will be cremated after a private service.
On Saturday, there will be a memorial service at the Kingdom
Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on Beauvale Road, Hucknall, at
2pm.
The Health and Safety Executive has begun an investigation
into Mr Wilson's death.
HSE officials have confirmed that three people died and a
further 374 people had been seriously injured in the East
Midlands, between 2001 and 2005, as a result of falling from
ladders.
An inquest has also opened.
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