A 'loving' brother tragically died after taking too many painkillers for his injured shoulder.
Adam Fountain, 37, was found unresponsive on his sofa at around 1pm by a maintenance man coming to fix his faulty front door, DerbyshireLive reported.
He became concerned something was wrong when his front and back door were both locked.
The maintenance man had to smash the window to access the property in Ilkeston and Mr Fountain was tragically identified later that day.
Adam, who was a former builders merchant, had been out of work for an extended period due to being diagnosed with epilepsy in his late 20s, and also had asthma.
During one epileptic fit, he dislocated his shoulder and was prescribed strong painkillers.
At an inquest at Derby Coroners Court on Tuesday, May 31, Peter Nieto, area coroner for Derby and Derbyshire, said it was not possible to determine whether the lethal dose of pills had been taken accidentally or deliberately.
However, he reiterated that no note or farewell letter was left, indicating it was not a deliberate overdose.
Following the inquest, his family paid tribute to Mr Fountain.
They said: "On the news of Adam's passing he will deeply missed by mother and father, Debra and David, sister Abbey, brother Richard, sister-in-law Lucy, nephews and nieces and his whole family and close friends. He was much loved by all."
His brother, Richard, added: "He was great. He was caring and loving, so devoted to my kids. He loved them so much and they loved him unconditionally.
"He was the life and soul of every family get together and made sure everyone was alright and put them before himself.
"He was my idol, I always wanted to grow up to be like him. He was such an amazing guy. If you ever met him, you'd never forget him, he was just such a perfect role model."
In a statement read out by the coroner, his mother, Debra Fountain said that her son, one of three children, was taking various medications to regulate epileptic seizures to "see what worked" and they last saw him on October 8, 2021.
She said he would also regularly have fits in the night.
She said: "He would wake up and feel like he had been hit by a bus, feeling weak and having no energy.
"He was very much into movies and would not make contact with people. This was normal for Adam. He enjoyed his own company.
"He did not work and had been out of work for a number of years. He was always honest with us, he was genuine. Adam liked to spend time on his own."
GP reports said that at one stage, Mr Fountain complained to them that he had dislocated his shoulder four times in a day.
But due to his epilepsy, he was unable to have surgery as he needed to be fit-free for at least two months.
After he was found dead on on October 11, 2021, a post-mortem examination was carried out and a medical cause of death was recorded as pneumonia and gastro-aspiration (inhalation of stomach contents) due to painkiller toxicity.
In their report, a pathologist said: "Blood concentration [of painkiller] is higher than would normally be indicated during therapy. Tolerance develops with regular use.
"The concentration level is above what would be expected during prescription and in the range that death has been known to occur."
A specialist brain pathologist also said: "There are no findings within the brain of any major significance to indicate any major brain injury or seizure."
