Anita Bazell, an 88-year-old woman, died on 6 July with heatstroke listed as her cause of death. She was admitted to Southampton General Hospital on 26 June with a body temperature of 41.2C, following a period of extreme heat in the UK.
Her son, Steve Bazell, stated that his mother was living in a nursing home in Southampton. He noted that while communal rooms had air conditioning, his mother's third-floor room did not. He described the room as hot and recalled seeing her in a short-sleeve woolly jumper and wool trousers when she was taken to hospital.
The day Anita was hospitalised, 26 June, was recorded as the hottest June day in UK history, with temperatures reaching 38C in Lingwood, Norfolk. University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust declared a critical incident due to the extreme heat on 25 June, leading to cancelled operations and appointments. David Higgs, the hospital’s deputy chief medical officer, later said the hospital came "very close to collapse" during the June heatwave.
Anita's family has written to her nursing home, which they have not named publicly, to express concerns about the care she received before she collapsed. An estimated 2,877 heat-associated deaths occurred in England during the May and June heatwaves this year.