A 60-year-old groundsman has tragically died after a lawnmower blade flew off and struck him in the heart, an inquest heard.
Nic Osbourne died in the tragic mower accident at a Cornish beauty spot and his body was found on July 1, 2019.
The popular and well-known groundsman founded Camelford Rugby Club and started working at St Nectan’s Glen, in north Cornwall, two months before the incident, Cornwall Live reported.
In the months before his death he had expressed concerns about health and safety, the inquest heard.
A much delayed inquest has been held, investigating his death, which is believed to have occurred when the mower blade flew off and stabbed him in the heart, according to a doctor speaking at the inquest.
A post-mortem report from Dr Grigor of Royal Cornwall Hospital said that Mr Osborne died from injuries to his heart due to a “grass cutter projectile injury”.
At the beauty spot he mowed large areas of the grassland and to do this he used a remote-controlled lawnmower.
The X ROT 80 was designed to mow any area too dangerous to do by hand, and housed several large blades inside it.
On the morning of July 1, 2019, Mr Osbourne went to work at St Nectan’s Glen as normal.
But just after 4:30pm that afternoon, the assistant manager Matt Ward discovered him lying on his back, clearly badly injured.
Paramedic Charles Graham, who was called to the scene, told the inquest: “It soon became apparent to Mr Ward that Mr Osborne was dead. He called 999 and covered him with a blanket.
“He told me Mr Osborne had been using a remote control ground cutter on caterpillar tracks and thought it odd he could hear an audio warning, indicating it was out of range from the control unit. Some time later he investigated the noise and found the unit 20 yards from Nic.
“Mr Ward thought he’d had a heart attack at first, but it became clear it was due to injury and blood loss, and thought it might be an accident,” said Mr Graham.
Mr Osborne, who was also a PE teacher at a local primary school, was lying on a dirt path up an embankment on the grounds, with a safety helmet on the ground next to him. He was wearing the controls for the mower, which was operated via a body-worn unit.
He had lost a lot of blood from a wound on his chest that was roughly 7cm long. Next to him was one of the cutting blades from the mower, which had blood on it.
His wife Alison Osborne told the jury inquest in Truro today that she became concerned when, by around 6pm that day, she hadn’t heard from her husband. She was told later that evening that he had died.
She told the inquest that her husband, who had previously been in charge of health and safety at the primary school he’d worked at, expressed concerns about his job in the time before his death.
She told the inquest: “He was responsible for various maintenance tasks. He always loved working outside and fixing things.
“In the short time he worked there he mentioned things about health and safety there and made observations about certain things he didn’t think were right.
“Nic wasn’t complaining, he was just noticing these things. He didn’t feel he could make changes as he was new but did make comments hoping they’d be taken notice of.”
She added: “Since 16 Nic had a passion for rugby, did many sports. He never missed a game. In 2009, after a few pints, Nic started Camelford RFC.
“He was a local legend in the rugby world, played until he was 57 and president of the club. We are devastated, we have been overwhelmed by the reception and respect shown for Nic. It just showed what a wonderful kind man he was.”
The inquest continues and is scheduled to run for two days.
