THE WIFE of a former Leigh rugby union captain has died after a falling downstairs at their home. Jean Caulfield, 57, stumbled, fell backwards and hit her head on the floor in the hallway. Her two daughters, air hostess Catherine, aged 27, and Suzanne, 26, who were in the house, heard her fall and rushed to help.

They desperately tried to give her first aid while an ambulance was called to take her to Whiston Hospital. But housewife Mrs Caulfield did not regain consciousness and died from head injuries.

Husband Eddie, a chartered accountant in Leigh, arrived home at Haydock Park Gardens in Haydock from work to find his daughters attempting to revive his wife.

Mr Caulfield, whose accountancy firm is on Charles Street, said his daughters had not seen his wife fall. But she may have been unable to stop herself tumbling backwards because she was carrying a tray upstairs.

He said: "I just came home and walked into it. We don't know whether she stubbed her toe or what happened to cause her to slip. The girls were giving her first aid. They tried their best. The paramedics came but she still did not regain consciousness." The couple had been married for 30 years.

They both come from Lowton where Mr Caulfield's brother Geoff still lives in Moorfield Crescent. They met at a dance at Lowton Civic Hall. Before the pair moved from Lowton, Mrs Caulfield was a keen amateur actress at St Thomas Amateur Operatics group as well as a member of the choir at St Lukes Church and a Sunday school teacher. She was also a keen badminton player.

Mr Caulfield played rugby union in the 1960s and 1970s for Leigh and Sale and received one county cap playing for Lancashire.

The father-of-three said that he had been overwhelmed with the amount of cards and letters of condolence sent to his home.

He said: "The tragedy of an accident is that you never have the chance to say goodbye. You can condition yourself if it is a long illness but when it's an accident you can't. You just have to come to terms with it. If it is somebody else you feel sorry for them but you don't feel it unless it is your own wife."

Members of the Leigh Rugby Union Club attended Mrs Caulfield's funeral at St Lukes Church on Wednesday.

Club chairman Michael Hampson said: "It is great shock for everyone at the club. I played rugby with Eddie so I have known him for a number of years. Our sympathies from everyone at the club have gone out to him."

An inquest into Mrs Caulfield's death has been opened and adjourned. THE WIFE of a former Leigh rugby union captain has died after falling downstairs at their home.