An inquest heard that a four-year-old kid was murdered instantaneously only weeks after beginning school when a large garden post fell on him.
On September 18, Leopold Mercer and a buddy were swinging on an iron gate in their yard after football practice when catastrophe struck at their house in Hanbury, Worcestershire.
The Worcestershire Coroner’s Court was informed that when his parents, university lecturers Eva Frickel and Jason Mercer, heard the other youngster cry “Leo,” they immediately understood something was wrong.
The couple desperately attempted to revive Leopold before emergency personnel came.
Leopold was pronounced dead at the spot after West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedics and Midlands Air Ambulance physicians continued CPR for 42 minutes with no response.
Leopold Mercer and a friend were swinging on an iron gate in their yard after football practice on September 18 when catastrophe struck at their house in Hanbury, Worcestershire.
Dr. Frickel told the court that she had just taken the two boys home from Sunday football practice when she noticed them hanging from an iron gate in the driveway.
Moments later, at 11:48 a.m., a concrete pillar crashed on top of the toddler’s head. A postmortem examination revealed that Leopold died from a head and neck injury.
Dr. Frickel stated, “Leopold had only been attending school for a few weeks when he was a cheerful, gregarious child.” On the driveway, there is a half-circle of pillars, one of which has a garden gate connected.
The lads exited the vehicle and headed over to play. I had barely pulled the car into the lawn when I heard the other youngster cry “Leo” and knew something was wrong by the sound of it.
I rushed around and saw him beneath the fallen column. It was so heavy that I could not move it.
Dr. Frickel told how Leopold’s father fled the house and fought to remove the pillar from his son’s body before beginning CPR and dialing 911.
She stated at the 1 December hearing, ‘It wasn’t long before I heard a helicopter and sirens, but everything after that is hazy.’
His parents, university teachers Eva Frickel and Jason Mercer, understood immediately that something was awry when they heard the other youngster scream “Leo.”
Since the incident, the mother said that she had spoken with Leopold’s buddy, who informed her that they were “hanging on the same side of the gate” when the pillar collapsed. The second youngster had minor injuries and was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
Dr. Frickel, a scientist, also released a heartbreaking message about her family’s suffering on Twitter, adding that her heart would be “forever crushed.”
“I hope we can find a way ahead as a family in the spirit of Leo, who is constantly smiling. And I hope to have a beneficial influence on us, our friends and Leo’s, and perhaps one day even further away.
In my mind, I am still a scientist, but my heart is irreparably wounded. Loss of a child is a lasting part of your life.
‘Life is unfair. You cannot guarantee your survival tomorrow.
Dr. Christopher Hamilton, a physician with Midlands Air Ambulance who responded to the scene, stated, ‘Leopold was lying on the path next to a fallen brick gate post and metal gate. According to the paramedics, Leo was unresponsive when they arrived.
He appeared to have sustained a severe brain injury and severe maxillofacial fractures, among other injuries, as a result of a severe head injury.
Dr. Andrew Bamber, a pathologist, determined that a head and neck injury was the cause of death.
Dr. Bamber stated, “The catastrophic head injury was consistent with blunt force trauma and was likely fatal instantly.”
David Reid, the senior coroner, stated that routine investigations by West Mercia Police revealed “nothing sinister” about the circumstances and that “it appeared to be a tragic accident”
Mr. Reid recorded a verdict of accidental death, stating, ‘Leopold sustained fatal head and neck injuries when a brick gate pillar fell on him while he was playing at home, and he died at the scene. His death was caused by the unnatural collapse of a brick pillar.
»Boy, four, killed instantly after concrete post fell on his head in tragic accident, inquest hears«