Coroner’s Court Rangiora Man’s Death After Injury In Rugby Match

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29016, 3 October 1959, Page 17

Coroner’s Court Rangiora Man’s Death After Injury In Rugby Match

A Rangiora senior Rugby player who died on August 15, two months after he was injured in the thigh during a ruck in a match against Kowai at Sefton, died from bilateral lobar pneumonia resulting from the injury This finding was returned by the district Coroner (Mr E. B. E. Taylor) when the inquest was concluded in Christchurch yesterday. The dead man was Brian Hamilton. aged 23. a Post and Telegraph linesman, who was a forward in the Rangiora team. Evidence was given by Dr. M. G. Dunshea, a house surgeon at the Burwood Hospital, that Hamilton received blood transfusions totalling 43 pints during about six weeks of treatment at the Christchurch and Burwood hospitals. Noel Richard Jarman, a forward in the Rangiora team, said that during the second spell a loose ruck formed and the referee called for a set scrum. He then saw Hamilton lying on the ground. He appeared to be suffering from a leg injury. A St John ambulance officer was called, but Hamilton rubbed his leg for a moment and said he was all right. “It is quite possible that 1 bumped into him during the ruck or that another forward bumped his leg.” the witness said. Kelvin Thomas Doody, a farmer, of Oxford, said he refereed the match, which he said was a “good hard, clean game.”

Dr. Dunshea said that Hamilton was admitted to hospital about 11 days after suffering the injury. There was a swelling of the left thigh about five inches in diameter, and in spite of treatment the infection spread until on July 14 the whole outer surface of the thigh was affected Hamilton was zansferred from the Christchurch Hospital to Burwood on July 18. but was later taken back to the Christchurch Hospital. His condition varied during the month, deteriorating sharply on August 9. On August 12 it was causing grave concern and Hamilton died on August 15 in the Burwood Hospital, to which he had been readmitted.

Dr Dunshea said the Injury was consistent with Hamilton’s having received a blow between the hip bone and the knee, which he considered was a direct result of the football injury. Dr. C. T. B. Pearson, a pathologist, said he conducted a postmortem examination on Hamilton. In his opinion, death was caused by bilateral lo ar pneumonia resulting from the football injury Kicked By Horse

An 11-year-old girl who dismounted from her horse to pick up a carrot she had been feeding it, was kicked in the stomach by another horse running loose in the paddock at 123 Woolridges road, and died shortly after being taken to the Christchurch Hospital The girl, Lynne Patricia Swanson, daughter of Mr and Mrs J. J. Swanson, of Thorney croft street, was found to have died from shock and hemorrhage caused by rupture of the liver suffered when she was accidentally kicked by a horse on August 28.

Jocelyn Colombus, a said she left her home with Lynne Swanson to go to a paddock in Woolridges road where her horse was kept. They rode their horses for a while nd fed them carrots. Lynne du ounted to pick up a carrot fro i the ground and one of the horses running loose in the paddock tried to kick her horse, and then kicked Lynne, who fell to the ground. “Lynne got up and went awav crying and after getting through a fence she crouched down and started screaming,” said the witness. The witness said that she then ran for help. William Hattley, the owner of the paddock, said the previous witness informed him of the accident He found the girl on her back by a dividing fence unable to get her breath. He thought she was winded. He carried her inside and called a doctor, and the girl was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Fell From Building While working on the erection of the steel framework of a new building at the Crown Crystal Glass Company’s works at HornbyJohn Ross, aged 37, a leading hand boiler maker employed by D. F. Nuttall, Ltd., overbalanced and fell, striking his head on a steel joist, according to evidence given by Gustavas Vegneris, a fellow employee working on the job.

Ross was found to have died from cerebral lacerations and

hemorrhage into the brain asso ciated with fractures of the skull suffered when he fell from a ladder while working on tht building Struck By Truck A girl aged two and a nail years was found to have died from fractures of the skull and cerebral lacerations suffered when she was knocked down by 3 Ministry of Works truck driven by Walter Ernest Lester, at Burnham at 9.10 a.m. on July 16. The dead girl was Marilyn Lesley Clark, daughter of Mr and Mrs L. O. Clark, of 2 Huia street. Burnham Military Camp Lester, in evidence, said he parked the truck outside Mrs Clark’s house, where painting was being undertaken by thi Ministry of Works, and aftei staying at the premises for about 10 minutes he returned to tht truck. He did not see anyone as he was going to the truck, nor when he glanced about hetore moving off. He had moved forward about 15ft when he heard a metallic sound and a voice, and stopped the truck. He found the child lying on the road with her head a few inches from the rear wheels. A child's sulky was balanced across the edge of the footpath and roadway. John George O’Malley, a Ministry of Works painter, said he saw the girl pushing her sulky down the path towards the gate while he was working on the property, but lost sight of her when he went behind a building Drowned In River

A 67-year-old retired man whose body was recovered from the Avon river, near the Armagh street bridge, at 8.15 a.m. on August 31, was found to have died from asphyxia caused by accidental drowning. He was Robert Tod, formerly a resident of Langford House, Sydenham. Evidence was given by Constable J. A. Moon that the man’s coat was found on the bank of the river near the body. There were no indications that the man had died from violence, and he formed the opinion that he had taken his own life. Committed Suicide

Neil James McGowan, aged 27. was found to have committed suicide by hanging on July 26. Myrtle Elizabeth Coles, aged 61, was found to have committed suicide on July 23, the cause of death being carbon monoxide poisoning.