Coroner: Nothing could have been done to save teen

3:50pm Friday 3rd September 2010

By Christine Fleming

Family and friends of a 14-year-old who collapsed and died without warning could not have done anything to save him, a coroner has concluded.

Emlyn Wibberley, who will forever be remembered by friends as “kind, gentle and having a good sense of humour” died on June 9 after collapsing on his way to school.

At an inquest into his death on Wednesday, the Christ’s School pupil was described as a loving teenager whose favourite TV shows included Top Gear, QI and Scrubs, “power cuddled his parents” every night, and could “talk the hind legs off a donkey”.

Coroner Shirley Radcliffe said: “I don’t think anyone can begin to imagine what it’s like to lose a son at 14.

“It seems Emlyn left for school as normal that morning and there was nothing untoward, and no previous significant illness that he was aware of.”

She said medical reports showed there was nothing out of the ordinary on the day Emlyn collapsed and there was nothing anyone could have done.

Emlyn, of Dover House Road, Putney, left for his journey to the Queen’s Road school at 7.15am before collapsing on the corner of Dungarvan Avenue and Upper Richmond Road, minutes from his front door.

A passing off-duty police officer, Detective Constable Reuben Pearson, heard someone make a distressed noise and saw Emlyn convulsing on the ground.

He said: “I was riding my motorcycle along Upper Richmond Road, having to weave my way through the traffic slowly when I heard a noise of distress from somebody.

“I could see someone in school uniform, seemingly having some sort of fit. I knew he needed help.”

The police officer gave the young Fulham supporter CPR before an ambulance took him to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, but he died shortly after arrival.

Westminster Coroner’s Court recorded Emlyn’s cause of death as sudden arrhythmic death syndrome – a verdict given when no definite cause of death can be found, even after an expert examination of the heart.

Michael Ashworth, consultant paediatric pathologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said there were no abnormalities with the teenager’s heart.

The specialist explained an abnormal heart rhythm would have caused a lack of oxygen to the brain, leading to the initial collapse, and the arrhythmia would have worsened as Emlyn became further deprived of air.

He said: “He would have been unconscious immediately and wouldn’t have known about it.”

He added there was nothing Emlyn’s parents Mark and Megan — who were at the inquest with his older sister Alice – could have done.

Mr and Mrs Wibberley have promised to support British Heart Foundation charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (Cry), which raises awareness of deaths such as Emlyn’s.

Mr Wibberley said: “We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who tried their utmost to keep Emlyn alive.

“We would also like to express our sincere thanks to the anonymous members of the public who have left some very touching messages on the lamppost near to where he collapsed.

“We have received such wonderful support from staff, the chaplain and pupils at Christ’s School.”

Donations collected from friends, family and the funeral congregation were put towards a Christ’s School garden and pond project that Emlyn was involved in.

On a Facebook page dedicated to the youngster, Mrs Wibberley wrote last month: “It’s hard to believe you have been gone for two months now.

“I can remember all the places we went together and the clothes you wore. We love you so much.”