A nurse fell to his death as "thick mist" enveloped Mount Snowdon, an inquest has heard. "Wonderful and caring" Ade Junior Ajayi, 30, was visiting north Wales with his partner Eleanor Forde.
The couple were staying with their two dogs at an Anglesey glamping site on June 6 when Mr Ajayi, an experienced hiker, decided to climb Snowdon. The trainee nurse at Montagu Hospital in Doncaster told Miss Forde he would be back by midday for them to take their dogs to the beach.
An inquest held in Caernarfon heard he called Miss Forde at around 9.30am to say he was on his way back down the mountain and was following the train tracks on the Llanberis Pass. When she had not heard from Mr Ajayi again by lunch-time, she called him but was unable to get through, North Wales Live reports.
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By 2pm she had called North Wales Police, who contacted Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. One of its members Elfyn Harlech Jones said that despite generally good weather conditions, there was a "thick mist" covering the Snowdon summit down to a level of around 700m, which would have "significantly affected the visibility on the tops".
Later that afternoon police informed Miss Forde that Mr Ajayi had been found by two walkers. In a statement read during the inquest, Miss Forde described her partner as a "wonderful and caring" person who "loved life and lived it to the full".
She said: "He loved his patients and they adored him. He would always go out of his way to help them, nothing was too much trouble when it came to them. My heart is completely broken and I can't believe he is not around anymore. My world is shattered and even our little dogs are still looking for him. Ade will be missed more than I can ever express. His memory will always be treasured by me and by those who knew and loved him."
A post-mortem by Dr Mark Atkinson on June 13 revealed Mr Ajayi had an "unusual" heart condition in which the "artery descending from the heart had narrowed quite significantly", more often seen in elderly patients. Dr Atkinson gave a provisional cause of death as "multiple injuries likely related to a fall" but added that a "natural ischemic cardiac event is not inconceivable", meaning his condition could have caused a collapse.
But assistant coroner Katie Sutherland said: "It is more likely, based on the evidence, that Ade suffered a fall after he simply lost his way, bearing in mind weather conditions. It is more likely than not he has either slipped or tripped whilst descending, having lost his way. I will record the cause of death as multiple injuries due to a fall."
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, she added: "He was clearly doing something that he loved. He had the appropriate equipment and footwear — that has been given to me in evidence by a number of witnesses. It is likely that he has lost his way and poor weather conditions in such treacherous areas have sadly caused his death."
A GoFundMe page set up by family friend Richard Reasbeck to help cover funeral costs raised £5,090. You can read more of the latest news from Wales here.
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