Retired teacher killed in holiday isle tragedy crash
A retired teacher from Wordsley died when he lost control of his car after it was hit by another vehicle in Cyprus, an inquest has heard.
Graham Hodgson was on an extended holiday with his wife Paula when the tragedy happened. The couple had planned to make a permanent move to Cyprus.
The 58-year-old, of Greenbank Gardens, was travelling from the north of the island to the south to help his neighbour pick up his son from Larnaca airport when the car he was driving was struck from behind on November 27 last year.
Mr Zafar Siddique, senior coroner for the Black Country, told an inquest yesterday) that Mr Hodgson died as the result of a traumatic aortic rupture.
A statement from Margaret Collins, an investigator for the coroner's office, was read out at the inquest in Smethwick.
It said: "There was a road traffic collision where in Mr Hodgson was injured. The couple visited Cyprus regularly and on the day in question his wife was at a neighbour's house and he was driving from the north of the country to the south to pick up members of the neighbour's family.
"His car was hit from the rear in a collision which caused him to lose control of his vehicle and swerve, hitting the barriers on the road side. He was wearing a seatbelt but tragically had very significant injuries and sadly passed away a short time later."
Mr Hodgson, who taught in primary schools in the Dudley borough for 33 years, was due to take the neighbour and his family back to Iskele, where he and his wife, Paula, were staying for an extended holiday.
Mr Siddique said Mr Hodgson died from a traumatic aortic rupture due to a road traffic collision.
He said: "His car was hit from the rear by another vehicle causing him to lose control and crash. He died due to the injuries he sustained.
"I rule he died by way of a road traffic collision, and I offer my condolences to the family of the late Graham Hodgson."
The couple had been on the island teaching locals English and how to swim, and had dreams of moving permanently to Cyprus.
Originally for Merseyside, Mr Hodgson had taught at Netherton Primary School, in Netherton, for more than 20 years, and was also a keen historian. He campaigned to get the name of Private Joseph Bateman, a First World War soldier who was executed for desertion in 1917, onto Wordsley's War Memorial.
They have three children, Emma, Ben, and Lorna. At the time of his death, his daughter Lorna said her parents had plans to move to the country permanently after visiting Cyprus on a number of occasions.
