Timaru woman died from hypothermia after cliff fall

Dashing Rocks walkway in Timaru. Photo / Keith Batchelor

A woman died from hypothermia after falling from a cliff and landing on rocks, the coroner has found.

Timaru woman Shelley Lurajud was deaf and suffered from blindness in one eye.

She was last seen going for a walk on July 1, 2014 and her body was found two days later.

She had returned to her home in Timaru after being in Christchurch for surgery and her father told Coroner David Crerar he had encouraged Ms Lurajud to go for a walk. When she didn't return he raised the alarm.

Ms Lurajud took an unfamiliar route and fell down a cliff at the northern end of Caroline Bay, known as Dashing Rocks, Mr Crerar said in his findings released today.

She suffered moderate injuries in the fall, but it was hypothermia that ended Ms Lurajud's life, the coroner said.

Before she fell, Ms Lurajud had taken her shoes off and removed her hearing aids and glasses and left them on the path.

Mr Crerar said in his findings that after Ms Lurajud fell she may have tried to crawl around the rocks and injured herself further.

Due to her incapacity she would have been unable to call her help, he said.