Friends of a talented teenage footballer who died after being electrocuted have described the awful moment disaster struck as they messed around on a football pitch near overhead power cables. Luke Bennett, from Chorley, had been playing football with seven of his close friends at Euxton Villa FC on March 6 in 2021.
The talented winger, who had spent time at the academies at Blackburn, Burnley and Preston before joining AFC Fylde, spent the afternoon at the club's pitches. He and two others started "messing about" with a metal pole used to segregate the subs bench from the 11-a-side pitch, LancsLive reports.
As the three attempted to stand the long pole up on its end it either touched, or came close enough to result in electricity arcing, to the overhead lines carrying 11,000 volts. All three "fell to the floor" and while Luke immediately stood up, he then collapsed again at around 6pm. The two other boys eventually regained consciousness but Luke died at the scene.
It had previously been suggested that the boys had been trying to reach a football in a pond but at an inquest which started today (Tuesday, May 23) at County Hall in Preston, evidence from the other seven teenagers revealed Luke and two others had been "messing about" with the pole.
One of the teenagers, Ben Doherty who is now over 18, said in a statement to police: "The groundsman said we could go on but only on the back pitches. I think (the pole) was part of the barrier to allow subs to come on and off the pitch.
"They were trying to stand it up but when they put it up they all fell over. I saw sparks coming out and I could smell burning. They all just dropped to the floor. Ben (Wilcock) and Lewis (Geszke) looked like they were asleep."
Although Ben and Lewis both eventually came round Luke remained on the ground. His mates said his "head was jerking" and his breathing was "on and off". One of the other boys, Alex Carefoot, said he heard "crackling" just before his three friends fell to the floor while George Cooper said he saw flames coming out of the top of the pole and heard a "buzzing".
The lads rang 999 and were told not to touch Luke for fear they too might be electrocuted given that the power lines were still live. A police officer was first on the scene, followed by paramedics, who began CPR and attached a defibrillator which showed no cardiac activity in Luke's heart.
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Karen McCabe, a paramedic of 11 years, was the first medic on the scene at 6.22pm. There was a 10-minute delay in arriving at Euxton Villa after "incorrect information" had been provided to the 999 call handler which initially indicated the incident had happened at Runshaw College.
The paramedic, who has never been called to an electrocution before as "these incidents are extremely rare", said that the defibrillator showed that Luke's heart "had completely stopped" and there were no signs of life.
A North West Air Ambulance doctor, Matthew Spence, said that the service had also been given the wrong address but as he hadn't already diverted it didn't delay his arrival. Dr Spence said all medics at the scene couldn't find any way to restart Luke's heart and said: "At that point there isn't really anything that can be done so at that point we considered stopping CPR and certifying death."
Consultant cardiologist Ian Schofield, from Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, wasn't involved in Luke's treatment but was asked by Area Coroner Kate Bisset to provide expert evidence regarding the chances of survival after suffering a cardiac arrest following electrocution.
Dr Schofield explained that electrocution causes one of two medical events - either the heart's rhythm is disrupted but then returns, as with the case of Lewis and Ben, or it causes damage to the heart resulting in a chaotic electrical current which stops the heart from beating, as happened with Luke.
He added that, in cases of cardiac arrest, there is a "window of opportunity", roughly 10 minutes, in which CPR must be started in order to stand a chance of surviving. It was around 22 minutes before resuscitation commenced with Luke.
Furthermore, if CPR does not manage to restart the heart within 20 to 30 minutes, it is "almost always unsuccessful". Any attempts which last longer than half an hour are "always unsuccessful".
Dr Schofield informed Luke's parents, who were in attendance at the inquest, that their son would have suffered "no pain other than the shock of electrocution". When asked what Luke's chances of survival would have been had CPR been started immediately Dr Schofield said it would have been "more likely than not" and if a defibrillator had been available at the club survival would have been "highly likely".
However, the doctor stressed that there is no link between the voltage and chances of survival, with the chances of survival determined by the damage caused by the electrocution. He agreed that the fundamental principle is "safe approach" and agreed with the advice given to the boys not to touch Luke.
The inquest is set to conclude on Wednesday, May 24.
