Full story of woman killed by rugby ball as she watched match
A lack of supervision and poor spectator safety management contributed to the death of a woman who was struck on the head by a rugby ball, an inquest has found. Jennifer Selwood, 69, suffered a bleed on the brain after accidentally being hit on the back of her head by the stray ball at Taunton RFC, in Somerset, while watching a match in January 2020.
Senior Somerset coroner Samantha Marsh presided over the inquest and said Mrs Selwood's decision to stand where she did "wasn't foolish, it wasn't unreasonable, and she most certainly cannot be considered to be the author of her own misfortune".
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, she said she was satisfied there was a risk to spectators watching a game while another team warmed up on an adjacent pitch. Club Chairman John Wrelton said he had never considered that a loose ball striking a spectator could present a risk to life.
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He said that spectators were encouraged not to stand too close to the touchline to avoid collisions with players but had not considered being hit by a rugby ball as "dangerous".
"In a lifetime involved in the game and having attended probably thousands of rugby matches, balls go into crowds and sometimes they bump people and sometimes they knock beer over. It is impossible to stay face forward to a match for every minute of the game. Genuinely, I have never thought of it as a life-threatening risk."
Coroner Ms Marsh said: "I am satisfied that a lack of thought has been given to those in control of the potential and foreseeability of this happening, and consequently steps have not been taken to minimise the risk because those risks have not been considered.
"I am satisfied that this was a very tragic, unforeseen and unintended consequence of the deliberate act, and so therefore this is entirely an accident. This accident was contributed to by poor supervision and spectator safety management."
Mr Wrelton said that since Mrs Selwood's death, changes have been made which have seen the gaps between youth matches lengthened so warm-ups are not taking place on pitches adjacent to games in play.
Mrs Selwood died after being struck on the back of the head by a rugby ball as she watched her grandson play. She was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital on the morning of January 12 and later transferred to Southmead Hospital in Bristol where she died on January 25.
The inquest in Wells, Somerset, heard Mrs Selwood had diabetes and the blood disorder aplastic anaemia, which would cause bleeding and clotting problems if she suffered an expected trauma.
Mrs Selwood's husband, Colin, told the hearing he and his wife were watching their grandson play when they moved position to a hardstanding gravel path linking two adjacent pitches because the sidelines were quite slippy.
He said they were standing next to each other watching their grandson, when his wife was hit by a ball from the adjacent pitch where another youth team was warming up.
"She was struck. She just made a groan and collapsed to the ground, and I went went down to support her," Mr Selwood said.
"People came across and asked if she wanted a chair and water and that sort of thing. I think there was an off-duty doctor in attendance, and they just told me to stay there and hold the back of her head, which is what I did."
Asked whether he saw his wife struck, Mr Selwood replied: "Not really because I was facing the same way as Jennifer was. I just heard a thud, and she went down. As far as I know the ball hit her on the back of the head and she went down."
Mr Selwood said there were no signs to say to say they should not stand there, and he was not aware of any activity taking place on the main pitch behind them.
The inquest also heard from Mrs Selwood's son, Dan, who was a youth coach at the club, when he became aware of the incident and ran over to her.
"She was quite dazed, so I went over to her, and she was trying to sit up at that point. I just helped and supported her to do so. When I was with mum she started complaining of pain and started rubbing the back of her neck. She started to drift quite quickly."
The inquest heard Mrs Selwood had diabetes and the blood disorder aplastic anaemia, for which she was undergoing long-term hospital treatment.
Dr Sarah Allford, a consultant haematologist, had been treating Mrs Selwood and said she would have been at "risk of significant bleeding" in the event of a trauma or surgery.
"The impacts of the rugby ball would, therefore, have been sufficient to cause her greater bleeding problems than someone with a normal platelet count. Bleeding into the brain in the context of low platelet counts is very serious."
"In summary, Jennifer was more likely to suffer a significant bleed caused by the impact because her platelets were lowered due to the aplastic anaemia. Any bleeding had the potential to proceed more rapidly and to be more persistent with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality."