Super-fit Oswestry granddad, 77, died after crash with van on his push bike
A super-fit grandfather who sometimes cycled 50 miles a day died after crashing into a van on his push bike.
Patrick George Crisp, aged 77, was out for a ride on a sunny March day this year when he went into the back of a stationary Openreach van on the B4396 Maesbury Road, Osbaston, Oswestry.
An inquest into Mr Crisp’s death was held this week at Shropshire Coroner’s Court at Guildhall in Shrewsbury.
The court heard that an air ambulance was sent to the scene as well as road ambulance paramedics and the police after reports of a crash at about 11.50am on March 5.
Mr Crisp, a retired herdsman known as Paddy to friends and family, was unconscious. Nothing could be done to save him and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.40pm.
A pathologist gave his cause of death as “traumatic head and spinal injuries”.
Mr Crisp’s wife Erica attended the inquest with their son Samuel, and a statement she made was read.
In it, she said: “I had gone to walk the dogs. When I got back there was a police officer at my door.”
She added that her husband seemed “his usual self” before he set off on his ride.
“He was always very fit and active,” Mrs Crisp said. “He had no major health issues and could still cycle 50 miles in a day and enjoy doing so.”
PC Sarah-Jane Smith, a collision investigator with West Mercia Police, said that there were no defects with Mr Crisp’s bike, the Openreach van or the road.
She suggested a number of reasons why the crash might have happened, including Mr Crisp possibly being distracted, blinded by the sun or believing the van was moving rather than stationary.
John Ellery, senior coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, recorded a conclusion Mr Crisp had died by road traffic collision.
Mrs Crisp also said that her husband grew up in Weybridge, Surrey and had a “happy childhood” with older sisters Jane and Judy.
She said he didn’t like school, but was a “polite” pupil, and that he went on to do an agricultural course at college in Guildford.
After that, Mr Crisp had a job looking after a herd of cows on a journey to Japan, and used his farming skills to fund travel adventures all over the world, including to Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Americas.
Mr and Mrs Crisp first met when they were both working in Spain in 1978 and they married the following year, settling down in Shropshire.
They lived in Ludlow and Clungunford, before moving to Hengoed, Oswestry to be closer to Mrs Crisp’s work after her husband retired. They later moved to St Anne’s Road in Morda near Oswestry.
They had three sons together: Samuel, Tom and Andy, who gave them four grandchildren.
Mrs Crisp said her husband was a big fan of military history and had a motorbike which he enjoyed exploring Wales on, until he stopped riding it when he got a bit older.
Mr Crisp also enjoyed spending time with his sons and grandchildren.
