THE daughter of an Italian expatriate who accidentally set herself on fire while cooking pasta has paid tribute to her "loving" and selfless mother.
Grandmother Valeria Bohannan, 81, of Skerry Rise, Broomfield, died five days after running out of her home engulfed in flames.
A long-delayed inquest at Essex Coroner's Court in Chelmsford on Tuesday ruled the widow died as a result of an accident.
"She was a fantastic mum, just the best, she put her whole heart and soul into the family. We all miss her very deeply," said proud daughter Gabriella Bass of Wethersfield. "It was a horrible way to go."
Just one hour after Gabriella's son left Valeria following a visit on Saturday, May 25, last year, she started cooking.
The inquest heard, however, that she began to feel dizzy, collapsed on to the hob and immediately set her clothes alight. While she managed to rip away her fleece, she ran into the road in her nylon nightdress screaming for help.
The Chronicle reported last year how Julian Norrington and other neighbours heroically doused the flames with towels and water.
The flames had burnt her nightdress to ashes however, and while she was conscious enough to explain events to firefighters, she suffered 70 per cent burns.
"I got a call from a neighbour who said that there had been a fire," said Gabriella. "I just assumed that she had burnt herself a bit and she would be all right, but when we got there her skin looked like a blackened sausage on the barbecue."
She died in Broomfield Hospital's burns unit.
"My brother and I had started to get a little bit worried about her," said Gabriella, 57, from Wethersfield.
"She had just started to fray around the edges and she would get a little bit forgetful, but what happened was so uncharacteristic of my mum.
"She could still get about and cook for herself and do her washing. She didn't need care coming in. We just kept an eye on her."
Valeria moved from Friuli, in the north-east of Italy, to England as a teenager. She met her husband Terry when she was working as an auxiliary nurse in Chelmsford, he visited to mend the hospital's scales.
"They fell in love and they had a fantastic relationship, always dancing and joking," said Gabriella, who said the couple moved into Skerry Rise about 50 years ago.
The two both went on to work at English Electric and Valeria in ball bearings at the Hoffmann factory.
In the 1980s they started their own fish and chip firm, pitching a stall in Danbury and Ongar.
Keen golfer Terry, however, developed Alzheimer's disease and over the next four years up until his death Valeria nursed her husband tirelessly, just as she did for her eldest son John in Italy before his death about nine years ago.
Legally an inquest must be held within six months of a death, but the coroner's office said the hearing was late due to a delay in the fire service sending a report.
Assistant deputy coroner for Essex Eleanor McGann said on Tuesday: "What an incredibly tragic accident for quite an elderly lady who nevertheless was leading an independent life."