The father of a teenage biker killed in a crash on Snake Pass has told his son's inquest that he wouldn't go to the hospital that treated his son 'if his life depended on it'. George Wakefield was taken to the Salford Royal Hospital on September 29, 2018, following a collision on the A57, DerbyshireLive reports.
The 19-year-old had been riding his motorbike along the road out from Glossop with some friends when he was hit by an oncoming car, which had been attempting to overtake a parked police van and recovery vehicle that had been dealing with an abandoned motorcycle, the hearing was told.
After the collision, Mr Wakefield, a railway worker from Hadfield, Derbyshire was taken to the hospital in Salford where the following day he underwent surgery on a series of broken bones.
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But following the surgery his condition worsened and he died on October 2. A post-mortem found that the experienced motorcyclist had died due to a condition called cerebral fat embolization.
A side effect of traumatic bone breaks, fractures of bone marrow fat enters the bloodstream which can affect brain activity of blood supply to the brain. This causes compression around the brain, and in Mr Wakefield’s case the fat embolism caused “catastrophic brain swelling”.
A report by Dr Mike Biggs found Mr Wakefield’s cause of death to be a cerebral fat embolism, caused by a contributory factor of suffering multiple fractures requiring surgery. Speaking at the jury inquest in Chesterfield, Darren Wakefield, George’s dad, told the 11-person jury how his son was an experienced motorcyclist who had been riding 'anything with two wheels' since he was six years old. The inquest heard how his son was very familiar with Snake Pass and often used it as a route to Matlock and Bakewell.
Mr Wakefield's father spoke about how, after his son had been admitted to hospital, he had to wait 24 hours to have surgery on his injuries due to staffing issues. After a seven-hour surgery, Mr Wakefield's family were told he was alright and they were sent back to their Derbyshire home.
The following morning Darren Wakefield received a call, informing him that his son wasn't "responding" well and was going to have to have emergency surgery on his brain to relieve the pressure. Sadly this surgery wasn't successful and he died.
Police officer questioned by George's father
The four-day-inquest is expected to not only question Mr Wakefield's medical treatment, but also the positioning of the police van and recovery vehicle on Snake Pass on the day of Mr Wakefield's crash. The jury heard from PC Stuart Lindsay, of Glossop Police station, who had been the officer tasked with recovering a stolen motorcycle which resulted in a recovery van being parked on the A57.
No temporary police warning signs were put on the road warning oncoming traffic of the parked police and recovery vehicles on the road. PC Lindsay told the hearing that in his assessment that traffic and weather conditions, as well as road markings and permanent road warning signs, meant there was no need for extra measures until the discarded bike needed lifting onto the back of the truck.
When questioned about whether he would have done anything different now, PC Lindsay said: "In hindsight putting a sign or closing the road would have been the thing to do, however at the time with the conditions and weather I formed a decision that it was safe. We are now advised to put signs out and I've taken learning from it."
Previously, Derbyshire Police had to complete an e-learning package on recovering vehicles on straight, fast roads such as dual-carriageways. Since Mr Wakefield's death an additional training package on recovering vehicles on bends has been produced.
PC Lindsay added: "My belief at the time was that one officer could deal with it. I can't change that decision now."
To which Mr Wakefield's father, who was questioning PC Lindsay at the time, said: "Well we have to live with that decision for the rest of our lives."
The hearing also heard from Kevin West, the recovery driver, and PC Gareth Podmore, who had taken over from PC Lindsay moments before the collision. Mr West said that after checking out where the bike in need of recovery was, he would have asked for the road to be temporarily closed by the police, but that he "didn't get a chance to" as the collision happened before he could speak to PC Podmore.
PC Podmore said he had only just left his vehicle when he heard the collision between Mr Wakefield's bike and a white Skoda Yeti. The inquest heard from PC Podmore that he had not yet had a chance to put any traffic measures in place, telling the jury: "Yes, we could've stopped to put signs out, in the same circumstances we would have approached it differently but that is the benefit of hindsight."
The 22-year policing veteran ended his evidence by commenting that although he didn't see how fast Mr Wakefield was travelling, the two bikers he was riding with came past PC Podmore following the collision at speed. He told Area Coroner Peter Nieto: "I have sworn on a Bible today and I can categorically state that those two bikes were travelling at extreme speed, and in my opinion it was over the speed limit."
The inquest continues.
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