The daughter of a brave mountain explorer died after falling at the William Harvey Hospital, an inquest has heard.

Sandra Noel, of Churchfield Way, Wye, was the only child of Everest climber Captain John Noel.

She had been at the hospital for a routine blood transfusion when she fell and hit the floor face first.

The fall, coupled with Ms Noel’s pre-existing bone marrow condition myelofibrosis - which affected her blood’s ability to clot - caused significant bleeding to her brain.

She received treatment immediately after the fall on February 23, but her condition meant doctors ruled out surgical intervention and she died the following evening.

At an inquest held at the Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone last Monday, coroner Katrina Hepburn said: “This was an accidental death.

"The fall caused trauma to her nose and brain, and that caused the haemorrhage.”

Ms Noel, 74, a writer, spent much of her life championing her father, Captain John Noel.

He was the official photographer for George Mallory and Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine’s attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1924.

Mr Noel, who died in 1989 in Brenzett aged 99, became the first European to get within 40 miles of the mountain in 1913, when he crossed the border into Tibet in disguise.

Ms Noel – who had lived in Wye since 2002, and could speak four languages – was part of Wye’s historical society and worked in the travel business, having inherited her father’s love of exploring.

A stalwart of the Ashford School Association, Ms Noel escorted groups to various countries and was a part-time lecturer at Canterbury College on travel and tourism.

Her long-term partner, Lakhan Samuels, paid tribute to Ms Noel before the inquest.

“She was a gregarious woman and I had the good fortune to be with her for 24 years,” he said.

“I shall always remember her charm and her feistiness. She was a woman the likes of whom we shall never have again.”