A nurse died after being hit on the back of the neck by a wooden horse costume at a May Day Festival in Cornwall. Laura Smallwood, 34, died in hospital three days after suffering a brain injury at Padstow's May Day Obby Oss event on May 1, 2019.
The paediatric nurse's death was accidental, a three-day inquest found, Cornwall Live reports. But the incident shows the need for the event to move with the times to keep people safe, the inquest has ruled.
Senior coroner for Cornwall, Andrew Cox, said it was "likely" the impact caused the fatal injury. He also said that a mystery injury she suffered several days earlier would have left her more vulnerable to further trauma.
As a result of Laura's death, Mr Cox will send a 'preventing future deaths' report to the Government department responsible for events such as Obby Oss. This is to ensure they are required to operate in a professional and safe manner.
The inquest into Laura’s death heard evidence from various witnesses over the course of this week. On the morning of day one, the hearing heard from various witnesses who saw Laura being hit in the face following an argument in the street a couple of hours before the incident with the oss - a large oval frame hobby horse that dances its way through the town. This incident however appeared to not cause an injury and was laughed off at the time by Laura.
Before being hit by the oss, Laura, from Padstow, was described as acting “out of character”, and the inquest also heard evidence from the man inside the costume, Kevin Constance, who said he had no idea he'd made contact with Laura after stumbling back.
The second day of the inquest started with medical evidence from pathologist Amanda Jeffrey and Dr Kathryn Urankar. Both medical experts spoke of their investigations uncovering a mystery injury sustained by Laura 10 days or so earlier, which they said was still healing could have left her more vulnerable to injury sustained on May Day.
On Wednesday afternoon, the inquest heard from two witnesses involved in the organisation and overseeing of the festivities. Both told Mr Cox how changes have been made in regards event management, including improved communication between oss committees, stewarding, road closures and medical assistance to ensure spectators at this year’s event are kept safe.
On the final day of the inquest, Mr Cox identified three potential factors that could have led to Laura suffering a brain stem infarction due to bilateral artery dissection that cost her her life - namely the unidentified injury suffered 10 days or so prior to May Day, another injury suffered an hour or two before the oss incident during an altercation, and then Laura being hit in the back of the neck by the blue oss in Stile Field.
Regarding the old injury, Mr Cox said: "Laura had not recovered fully from the injury leaving her at increased vulnerability of serious injury. Her death is however not attributable to delayed natural progression of this."
Moving onto the altercation with Chelsea Powell an hour or two before the oss incident, Mr Cox said: "Contact from Miss Powell was rather more than a push to the face as Mr Dennick heard the sound of a wallop or slap and a number of witnesses saw Laura's sunglasses go flying off her head.
"It is correct to note that there were no external injuries to note in the post-mortem and it is unlikely that this blow, although ill-advised, caused the acute deterioration. Laura was seen to laugh it off, speak to other people and follow the oss across Stile Field to the war memorial."
Mr Cox then described how Mr Constance had 50 years experience being a carrier and was not drunk at the time. He lost balance and fell backwards. Laura had her back to the oss at the time and the impact "would have taken her by surprise".
Mr Cox said: "It is likely the blunt force trauma or stretching caused by unexpected contact would have led to the dissection of the artery and the proximity in time between Laura being struck and becoming unwell is far more than coincidental."
For the final part of Mr Cox's conclusion, he turned his attention to whether or not May Day event management was appropriate. He spoke of how the tradition dates back centuries and is celebrated by two groups of people, one red and one blue, follow their dancing osses- led by a teaser - through the town in front of huge crowds.
He said given the packed nature of the streets and the fact many people consume alcohol, the risk of contact between the oss and a member of the public was "obvious" - adding that Laura herself was a local with knowledge of the event. Mr Cox said that until 2018 the engagement between the oss committees and police and other authorities was "far from ideal".
He said: "It couldn't be right to have an event of that size with no arrangements in place for reuniting lost children or a first responder not being able to get through a locked gate (as was the case when Laura was receiving medical treatment). The situation was improving before the 2019 event and there is a recognition of it needing to move with the times."
It was noted how an external liaison representative is now in place as a go-between between the authorities and oss committees, that stewarding has been improved, funding found for a first responder on the ground and road closures granted, Mr Cox saying oss committees are now "doing their bit".
Mr Cox added that at the time, a lack of a single event organiser meant that "risk reduction was inevitably compromised" but that he wanted May Day to flourish in a safe way with accountability among organisers.
He described not wanting to usher in a nanny state, but questioned whether unless the mentioned improvements were made and a single head organiser put in place, how May Day would deal with a tragedy such as a fire in the middle of town or someone driving at high speed around the harbour. Mr Cox welcomed that there is now someone in place acting as a link between both oss committees and the authorities.
Mr Cox returned a conclusion of accidental death and said that Laura's injuries from the 10 days before left her vulnerable to further trauma, such as the accidental striking of the oss on May Day. Mr Cox will now write a preventing further deaths report to the relevant Government department responsible for events such as May Day Obby Oss to suggest framework is place to make sure such events are run in a professional manner. He finished off the three day hearing as he opened it, by expressing his sincere condolences to Laura's family and friends.
