10-year-old boy crushed to death by quadbike
18th September 2024
A 10-year-old boy, Thomas Bull, was crushed to death by a quadbike after taking the vehicle without his parents’ permission, an inquest heard.
Thomas died in hospital after the bike tipped over and left him trapped underneath it on his family’s farm in Paythorne, Lancashire.
The boy would regularly go around on the farm doing chores, but he knew he could not take the quadbike out on his own, an inquest at Accrington Town Hall heard.
However, after Thomas arrived back from school on 7th June, he took the quadbike out on the farm without his parents, Jo and Chris, knowing, Somerset Live reported.
The boy’s parents became concerned when he did not return home.
Thomas’ dad told the coroner that he could see something black in the corner of the field and realised it was the quadbike on its side.
The man added that when he got to the scene, the boy was conscious and communicating at this point.
Emergency services were called and two helicopters from Yorkshire Air Ambulance arrived and took Thomas to Leeds General Infirmary in West Yorks.
Accidental death
The media outlet said that when Thomas arrived at the hospital, doctors initially seemed optimistic, however, his condition began to deteriorate over the following days.
Doctors confirmed that the boy died on 10th June because of reperfusion, which is consistent with severe crush injuries.
They also offered a medical cause of death of multiple-organ failure exacerbated by crush injuries.
The Health and Safety Executive attended the farm and determined they were not pursuing any further investigation.
According to the Somerset Live, the inquest found that Thomas was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident but that he had no recorded head injuries.
However, the risk of the quadbike overturning was increased by the boy’s age and weight.
Coroner Richard Taylor said that the risk of serious injury was increased when the quadbike overturned because of the weight of the vehicle and Thomas not being strong enough to lift it off and concluded that his death was accidental.
The thoughts of the Farmers Guide team are with the Bull family during this difficult time and their continuing hardships.
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