Rastrick mother Ann Holgate tells court ‘avoidable’ crash caused her disabled son’s death

THE mother of a disabled teenager has blamed an “avoidable” road accident for his death a month later.

An inquest heard yesterday how Ann Holgate believes her son Kristian, 17, never recovered from the crash on New Hey Road, when he was thrown out of his wheelchair and ended up in a pool of his own blood.

The Rastrick teenager, who had muscular dystrophy, died a month later.

And Mrs Holgate is convinced that his death was caused by a blood clot suffered during the accident.

Kristian was being driven by Rahim Dad, of Streamline Taxis, from his home on Highfield Road in Rastrick to Huddersfield New College when the accident happened on February 9, 2009.

Yesterday Halifax Coroners’ Court heard a statement from Mrs Holgate.

She said: “The driver called me and said Kristian had come out of his wheelchair. I shouted down the phone for him to call an ambulance.”

Mrs Holgate and Kristian’s father, Kevin, rushed to the scene on New Hey Road near the Ainley Top roundabout.

Mrs Holgate said: “The ambulance people were there and we could see Kristian lying with his head partially beneath the front seat. He was lying in a pool of blood with a huge cut to his head and he was complaining that his left knee was hurting.”

Kristian was taken to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary where X-rays showed he had a cracked bone in his knee.

He was discharged from hospital but became increasingly anxious over the following weeks. Mrs Holgate said: “On February 23 he was convinced he was going to die. He was waving his arms and moving constantly.”

Three days later his GP visited and said he thought Kristian was suffering from a blood clot. On March 1 he passed out at home and was rushed to Calderdale Royal Hospital where he died.

Mrs Holgate said: “Kristian never fully recovered from the accident, I know it was directly responsible for his death.”

Mrs Holgate added that Mr Dad could have prevented the accident. She said: “It was totally avoidable. He should have secured Kristian in the taxi.”

The court also heard from Dr Richard Knights, a consultant at Calderdale Royal Infirmary, who performed a post-mortem on Kristian.

He told the court that the teenager’s heart was nearly double the normal weight.

Dr Knights said Kristian had died of chronic respiratory failure which could have happened “at any time”. He believed Kristian died of natural causes.

Coroner Roger Whittaker adjourned the inquest after Mr and Mrs Holgate said they would like a second opinion.