An English man who fell from a 192m-tall bridge in Spain while reportedly creating social media content died from head injuries, an inquest has heard.
Lewis Stevenson, 26, died on October 13 after he fell from the Castilla-La Mancha bridge outside Talavera de la Reina in Spain.
Assistant coroner Sabyta Kaushal opened the inquest into his death at Derby Coroner’s Court on Tuesday and adjourned the hearing for further inquiries.
Ms Kaushal told Mr Stevenson’s mother, who attended the hearing: “I am opening the inquest into the death of Lewis Stevenson. He died on October 13 at the Castilla-La Mancha bridge in Spain.
“The inquest will now be adjourned for further investigations to be concluded. When it is concluded then the matter will be listed for a final hearing.”
She added that the cause of Mr Stevenson’s death has been recorded as “blunt force head injuries” after an “uncontrolled descent from height”.
The graphics and print designer climbed the bridge to “create content for social networks”, according to Macarena Munoz, the city’s councillor for citizen security.
She described the fall as an “unfortunate and sad outcome”, but added that climbing the bridge “is totally prohibited and which we have reiterated on many occasions cannot be done under any circumstances”.
The councillor said in the statement that Mr Stevenson had been accompanied by a 24-year-old English man at the time of the fall.
The cable-stayed bridge, which is the tallest in Spain since it opened in 2011, crosses the Tagus River.
After his death in October Mr Stevenson’s mother paid tribute. His family said he was “not a social media influencer”, but a “thrill-seeker” who had a passion for photography.
“Lewis was my boy, my world and my biggest achievement. He continually made me so proud, he was happy and ambitious in life,” his mother Keilia said.
“He was a thrill-seeker who loved to travel and have new experiences.
“We as a whole family supported his adventures around the world, which included amazing places he got to visit like Easter island and Machu Picchu, but unfortunately those adventures also included climbing great heights which we didn’t particularly agree with but understood this was what he loved to do.
“He knew his limits and never did anything beyond them. He was a keen photographer and he did this all for passion, not as an influencer.
“There will forever be a hole in our hearts and life will not be the same again.”
