‘Daredevil’ teenage freerunner, 18, ‘who would try to jump off anything’ died after ‘hurling himself’ from a train station railing and hitting his head, inquest hears
- Ryan Davies, 18, died after fall at Gowerton station, near Swansea, late last year
- At an inquest, his mother Katie Marie Davies said her son was a keen freerunner
- Cause of death was recorded as ‘traumatic brain injuries’ at inquest in Swansea
A ‘daredevil’ teenage freerunner who would ‘jump off anything’ died after ‘hurling himself’ from a train station railing, an inquest has heard.
Tragic Ryan Davies, 18, suffered a serious head injury when he fell at Gowerton station, near Swansea, on September 12 last year.
CCTV showed Ryan jumping off the railings at the village station but a coroner said the footage was too blurry to determine whether he had been practising his hobby of freerunning at the time.
Train driver Paul Summerfield had pulled into the station when he found Ryan ‘stumbling and confused’ with only one shoe on.
Tragic Ryan Davies, 18, suffered a serious head injury when he fell at Gowerton station, near Swansea, on September 12 last year. He died two weeks later
CCTV showed Ryan jumping off the railings at the village station (pictured) but a coroner said the footage was too blurry to determine whether he had been practising his hobby of freerunning at the time
In a statement to the inquest, he said: ‘We were concerned that he had been attacked or had been hit by another train.
‘He was mumbling incoherently and I noticed blood was running from his ear’.
Ryan was taken to hospital and spent two weeks in intensive care before his family made the heartbreaking decision to turn his life support machine off. He died on September 28.
His mother Katie Marie Davies said Ryan was a keen freerunner who had previously suffered a broken ankle when practising the sport.
She described Ryan, of Swansea, as ‘a daredevil who wasn’t afraid of heights and would try and jump off anything’.
His mother Katie Marie Davies said Ryan (pictured) was a keen freerunner who had previously suffered a broken ankle when practising the sport
Assistant coroner Aled Gruffydd said: ‘CCTV footage revealed that Ryan was hanging around platform one before wandering back to platform two, climbing onto the rail and hurling himself off.
‘The CCTV footage is blurry and it was difficult to see whether the incident was intentional or whether Ryan was practising his hobby of freerunning.’
The hearing, at Swansea Civic Centre, was told Ryan had no past evidence of depression or suicidal thoughts but had taken two of his father’s anti-depressant tablets on the night of the fall.
However medical experts said the dose was low and would not have been enough to have played a part in Ryan’s death.
The cause of death was recorded as ‘traumatic brain injuries consistent with falling from height’.
Coroner Mr Gruffydd gave a conclusion of misadventure.