Young Chorley footballer could have survived 11,000-volt shock had first aid reached him earlier

Luke Bennett, 17, from Chorley, was one of three teenagers hit by 11,000-volts after a metal pole they were playing with touched overhead power lines.

The two others, Lewis Geszke and Ben Wilcox, were knocked unconscious but recovered soon after. But Luke, a junior with AFC Fylde, died after a delay getting treatment in the vital few minutes after the shock.

Area Coroner Kate Bisset heard that paramedics were sent to the wrong location. A call-handler advised witnesses at the scene not to touch the casualty as he lay on the ground in case they too were electrocuted. And a further error meant a defibrillator at the football club was not located.

The inquest, at County Hall in Preston, must now decide if North West Ambulance Service could have done better after concerns by Luke's family that the delays may have contributed to his tragic death.

The Coroner heard that the three boys had been playing football with others after climbing through a hole in the fence at the Euxton Villa ground in Runshaw Hall Lane in March 2021. The lads picked up a metal pole they found at the side of the pitch and were lifting it up when there was a flash.

One of the others who witnessed the incident, Ben Doherty, said the three had been trying to stand the pole up on its end. Suddenly there was "sizzling and sparks" and all three collapsed shaking to the floor.

Another witness, George Cooper, said he had been playing football 50 metres away from the boys when he heard a "buzzing noise" and saw flames at the top of the pole. Sam Waddington added that when he raced over to the three, Lewis was beginning to come round, but he couldn't get an answer out of Luke.

And Alex Carefoot said he had seen to top of the pole touch the overhead cable. "There was a crackling noise and they all fell over." He added all the other boys had been "very upset and distressed because they were friends of Luke and couldn't believe what had happened."

NWAS call records showed it was 5.58pm when a 999 call was received from one of the boys at the football ground, but it was 6:21pm by the time the first paramedics arrived, a delay of 23 minutes.

Because of a "confused" emergency call the incident was initially graded as a Category 2, but raised to Category 1 within minutes. The ambulance crew despatched to the scene were told the location was a pitch next to Runshaw College and, after valuable minutes were lost searching that area, were finally diverted to the real address.

At the scene the call-handler had told the teenager who had called 999 that Luke should not be touched to avoid further casualties. And because the handler thought the boy had said Euxton, not Euxton Villa, a defib machine at the club, which would have shown up on NWAS records, wasn't identified.

When ambulance crews and a flying doctor got to the scene a police officer had already begun CPR. They took over and administered shock treatment, but despite desperate efforts to revive Luke, he was pronounced dead at 6:48pm - 50 minutes after the 999 call had been made.

Emergency doctor Matthew Spence told the inquest he too was directed to the wrong site before eventually being re-routed to Euxton Villa. He said when he checked Luke there was no pulse. The team did all they could, but failed to revive him. "There were no other treatment options available," he said.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Ian Schofield, called to give expert evidence, said that even a small electric shock could cause the heart to stop. But Luke and the others had been hit by 11,000 volts.

"Timing is the essence in this," he said. He added that Luke, being a young healthy man, may have responded had CPR been administered up to 10 minutes after the shock. But after that a build up of acidity around the heart would have made it "extremely difficult to restart it."

And he added: "It is more likely than not that he would have survived had CPR been started earlier. And if a defibrillator had been available and used within the first 10 minutes it is highly likely he would have survived."

Proceeding