Shropshire Star

Schoolboy died instantly after ropeswing fall despite 'brave' efforts of friends, inquest hears

A 12-year-old boy who died when he fell from a rope swing died instantly after hitting his head on a rock, an inquest heard.

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Young friends of Ethan Brady-Rainey, from Trevor, near Llangollen desperately tried to save him, wading into the River Dee to carry him to dry land, performing resuscitation techniques and flagging down vehicles to get help.

At Ethan's inquest, coroner John Gittins commended friends for doing what they could to try to save his life.

He told Ethan's mother, Tammy Rainey: "He was out and about with his mates, doing the things that boys love to do."

"I must commend Ethan's friends for their great bravery. They showed huge courage going into the water and recovering their friend and attempting to resuscitate him. Sadly his injuries were unsurvivable."

The inquest held at Ruthin coroner's court on Friday heard that Ethan, of Telford Avenue, was with his good friend on the day of the tragedy, September 30 last year.

In a statement to police the 12-year old said he had known Ethan for five years and said they went to Dinas Bran school in Llangollen together.

He said that at around 4pm the pair went with two others to Bont Bridge near the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and started to play on the rope swing.

"We went to get some conkers from a tree in the field but Ethan stayed on the rope swing. After three or four minutes I heard a scream from Ethan. We went to look for him and couldn't see him."

The friends found Ethan floating face down in the river and two of them went in to rescue him, one grabbing his feet the other his arms.

"The river was flowing quite fast and we had to wade out about four feet, it was over my knees," the boy said.

"There was a rock sticking out of the water where he was."

He said the one boy opened Ethan's mouth to try to help him breathe.

"I pressed his chest like I had been shown by my sister who does first aid."

"I ran up to the road and stopped a car and asked them to ring for an ambulance and one of them went down to where Ethan was. I then asked a man in a white van to take me to Trevor to get Ethan's mum."

Dr Mark Lord, who performed on post mortem, said there had been no signs to show that Ethan had drowned and said he was satisfied his death had been due to severe head injuries, probably from hitting the rock. Death would have been immediate, he said.

He also revealed that Ethan's heart had been donated for transplant.

The coroner, who said there was no evidence to show from what height Ethan had fallen, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

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