Bradford teen suffered 'traumatic' injuries after Coniston fall

An inquest held at Cockermouth Coroners’ Court, Cumbria, heard Sami Ahmed died after falling 20 to 30 metres at the Intermediate Gulley on Dow Crag on July 10.

The 15-year-old, of West Bowling, Bradford, had travelled with 11 family members from West Yorkshire to scale the Old Man of Coniston.

The group arrived at the car park around 9.45am, the court heard, and reached the Old Man summit by around midday.

The family then ventured on to Dow Crag and began their descent down when they realised Sami and his cousin were not in the group, the court was told.

The pair had taken a more ‘dangerous route’ off to Goat Lake in a bid to beat the others at the bottom.

Unfortunately, and tragically, Sami lost his footing and tumbled down the mountainside, his cousin told the court.

He said: “Sami just kept bouncing down to the bottom. I saw his body toppling and tumbling down. I was screaming his name and for help. A man found him at the bottom and said he was alive.”

Khalil Ahmed and son Sami (Image: UGC)

Unaware of the accident, Mr Ahmed reported his son and cousin as missing to mountain rescue.

A man at the bottom informed the group that he had seen two boys and said one of them had fallen, the court heard.

READ MORE: Father of Sami Ahmed pays heartbreaking tribute to son

Robert Jones, a volunteer with mountain rescue for 34 years, said the team received a report of a boy having fallen 30 to 40 metres down Dow Crag.

Mr Jones, alongside 18 team members, attended the incident.

Police arrived at the scene and said Sami had suffered severe injuries to the back of his head and had cuts and scratches to body consistent with a fall.

Sami was tragically confirmed as dead at 5.10pm.

In a statement read out to the court, Sami’s family said he was very loving and always smiling as a young boy.

They said Sami was adventurous from a young age and loved playing football once a week, with dreams of playing for Manchester United.

He also loved cycling and walking with his father.

They said: “He was very easy to be around. He never asked for anything. He was so grateful for anything we bought him. Everyone loved him.”

Sami was in the process of reading the Quran and only had three chapters to complete before his death. The family finished reading the remainder in his memory.

A radiologist conducted a non-invasive scan following Sami’s death and found he had suffered serious injuries to his head, neck, chest, abdomen, lungs, as well as skull fractures and bleeding in the brain.

A cause of death was given as multiple traumatic injuries.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Robert Cohen: “This should have been a wonderful family day out in a place Sami loved with people he loved.”