Heartbreak as boy, 17, dies after he's electrocuted…

Heartbreak as boy, 17, dies after he's electrocuted playing football with his friends

A 'talented' young footballer was killed 'almost instantly' after he was electrocuted, an inquest heard.

Luke Bennett was struck by 11,000 volts when a metal pole he was holding above his head touched, or make close contact to, an overhead power line as he played football with his mates at Euxton Villa FC in Chorley, LancsLive reports. The 17-year-old's dad sobbed at an inquest into his son's death as he recalled dropping him off as usual that day.

He described him as the 'life and soul of the party' with an 'infectious personality'. The inquest, held at County Hall in Preston, heard how on that fateful Saturday afternoon in March 2021, Luke had met with seven of his friends who spent most of the day having a kickabout.

At around 6pm three of the boys - Luke, Lewis Geszke and Ben Wilcock - began 'messing about' with a metal pole used to separate the subs bench from the pitch. As they tried to straighten the pole a huge current surged through the metal and threw all three teenagers to the ground.

Luke, an AFC Fylde youth footballer from Chorley, initially stood up after the shock but his horrified friends watched on as he then collapsed to the ground. Lewis and Ben were unconscious for a short period before waking up to see CPR being performed on Luke.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics and a doctor, Luke's heart had 'completely stopped' and he was pronounced dead at around 6.48pm. An inquest, which started on Tuesday (May 23) and is due to conclude today, heard that Luke's heart had been damaged to such an extent and, with his friends being warned not to touch him until emergency services arrived, he had little chance of surviving.

At the outset of the inquest, Luke's dad Thomas bravely took to the stand to describe his son, who was a talented footballer. He had spent time at the academies at Blackburn Rovers, Burnley FC and Preston North End before starting to play for AFC Fylde as a winger.

"He was very much the life and soul," Mr Bennett told Area Coroner Kate Bisset. "His personality was really quite infectious. He was very out-going and was riding a bike before you were supposed to. He just got on with things."

Mr Bennett, who himself was a former professional footballer for Wolverhampton Wanderers, described how despite only really getting into football at the age of 13, Luke immediately showed promise and also excelled at other sports including tennis, trampolining and swimming.

"It was amazing how he could do something without any real practice, he was that kind of lad," Mr Bennett said. "He just seemed to excel at pretty much all sports. He played at Blackburn for a bit, then he signed for Burnley and also at Preston.

"He came through the academy system a bit later than most, when he was 13 or 14, so his learning curve was very steep. He ended up finding a place at AFC Fylde at 16 and he loved it. He was a winger but as long as he could score goals and be at the centre of the action he was happy."

Mr Bennett described the run-up to the tragic events of March 6 in 2021. "He always asked us to take him to a friend's house or to play football somewhere at Buckshaw or Euxton," Luke's dad said.

"I said I'd take him and pick him up. I dropped him off, up the drive, which I've done dozens of times." The coroner asked Mr Bennett how he and his wife, along with Luke's older brother Dylan, were doing since his death.