A 92-YEAR-OLD war hero died after his health deteriorated after a crash, an inquest has heard.

George Breeze passed away at Leighton Hospital, Crewe, on Saturday, January 3, 13 days after the collision in Winsford.

The court heard that Mr Breeze was born in Winsford and lived there all his life apart from when he served with the RAF in South Africa during the Second World War, before moving on to a career as an electrician.

He was driving a silver Suzuki Splash at 2.15pm on Monday, December 21, 2014, when he collided with a black BMW 530, driven by Stanley Scott, from Middlewich.

Mr Scott was travelling along the A54 Station Road bypass with his wife and son when he saw Mr Breeze’s silver Suzuki approach a junction.

At the inquest on Thursday, Mr Scott said: “He just went straight across. It all happened in about three or four seconds.

“I went over to the car and the gentleman was trying to undo his seatbelt. I was surprised to see such an elderly gentlemen.

“He said ‘my fault, my fault’. I told him ‘don’t worry about that’, and told him to keep as still as possible.”

Emergency services arrived and took Mr Breeze to Leighton Hospital. He suffered bruising to his chest and shoulders but x-rays showed no breaks.

After his family raised concerns about his ability to recover at home, Mr Breeze was transferred to Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford.

On December 26 Elmhurst staff contacted an out of hours GP as Mr Breeze has stopped passing urine. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, and prescribed anti-biotics.

Despite appearing to ‘brighten up’ after the diagnosis, his condition began to deteriorate.

In the early hours of December 27 he was found in his room ‘confused, cold and clammy. He was taken to Leighton Hospital around midday.

His son, David Breeze told the inquest how he found his father on a trolley in one of the hospital’s corridors.

Mr Breeze’s daughter, Anne Tomlinson, said it was ‘a grave concern for the family’.

She said: “It looks as though he was just dumped there.”

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ‘sincerely apologised’ for leaving Mr Breeze in the corridor, claiming the hospital was ‘extremely busy’.

Mr Breeze was diagnosed with Sepsis – a life-threatening condition triggered by an infection – and septic shock – where your blood pressure dangerously drops after an infection.

Mr Breeze’s condition continued to deteriorate and he died January 3.

A post mortem concluded he had bronchopneumonia and chest wall bruising caused by the collision.

Delivering his verdict, Michael Wallbank, assistant deputy coroner for Cheshire, said: “I am satisfied on the balance of probability that George Breeze died as a result of a road traffic collision.”