A DAD awoke to find his son had drowned in the bath overnight after passing out as a result of undiagnosed heart problems, an inquest heard.

Samuel Blanchard’s body was discovered under the water in the bathroom of his parents’ home in Tintern Avenue, Worcester, where he lived.

Speaking at Worcestershire Coroners Court on Tuesday, assistant coroner Simon Charlton said a post mortem revealed the 38-year-old had coronary artery disease, characterised by a narrowing of the arteries, and other heart issues.

“It doesn’t seem to me he intended to kill himself,” he said. “He was found in the bath under the water and from what I can see it was to do with his heart.

“His heart was not working properly and he probably passed out and went under water.”

Dad Mervyn Blanchard, who was present at the inquest, as were other family members, had woken up around 7am on April 6 and noticing the upstairs bathroom light was on had gone downstairs to use the toilet.

At 8.50am, noticing the upstairs bathroom door was still closed and light still on, he called to his son.

In a statement read out in court, Mervyn said he opened the door and saw his son “lying on his side on the bottom of the bath” and he touched his arms to see if he was asleep.

He called for his wife Brenda and then phoned for an ambulance with the operator telling him to empty the water from the bath.

“I don’t know what has happened to my son or why he is dead,” said Mervyn, hypothesising that he may have gone into a coma due to his diabetes.

Samuel had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes some years ago resulting in him stopping work as a factory operator as his condition began to impact his eye sight.

He had previously lived in a property in Derby Road, Worcester, but around 10 years ago moved back in with his parents, while his brothers Simon and Tim lived locally.

Mervyn said Samuel was something of a “recluse” who spent most of his time in his bedroom and only came downstairs to make coffee and rarely ate, except the occasional Chinese takeaway.

He was often on his computer until late and had a growing drink problem.

He had gone to use the bath around 8pm on April 5.

The coroner recorded a verdict he died of natural causes.