Gran died in freak accident after being hit by ball watching grandson play rugby, inquest told
A grandmother died in a tragic accident after being hit on the head by a rugby ball as she watched her grandson play, an inquest heard. Jennifer Selwood, 69, suffered a bleed on the brain after being hit at Taunton RFC in Somerset in January 2020.
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 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 shifting positions to watch their grandson play as the sidelines were slippery. 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.
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“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,” he said. “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,” she said. “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.”
The hearing continues.