British hiker killed after being struck by boulder on Himalayan trek
A hiker died after being struck by a boulder as he trekked with a friend in the Himalayas, a coroner has found.
Data analyst Tom Howard, 27, and his friend Robert Emerton were making their way along a snowy route on India's Triund Trek on February 16 when he was hit in the chest and collapsed.
Woking Coroner's Court heard that an 'extremely arduous' rescue mission ensued through difficult terrain, it 'covered several hours' and Mr Howard reached the hospital the next day.
Scott McDonnell, the assistant coroner for Surrey, found on Friday that Mr Howard, of Weybridge, Surrey, died on February 17 as a result of a head injury and ruled that his death was accidental.
A provisional post-mortem examination at a hospital in Dharamshala, India, on Feb 18 gave the cause of death as shock due to chest and abdomen trauma caused by blunt force impact, but a second examination on March 10 found a fracture to his skull.
Mr Howard and his friend, who had been travelling overseas since December, saw various landmarks as they made their way along a 'well-trodden route' that was 'tough going', the court heard.
In a statement from Mr Emerton, read out to the court, he said that he 'heard a yell from Tom behind [him]', between 4pm and 4.30pm.
He turned around and saw his friend had lost his balance and appeared as though he had been hit by a dislodged boulder.
Mr Emerton could see immediately that Mr Howard was 'trying to breathe' and was 'trying to speak but could not get anything out'.
He called 999 hoping to get assistance but efforts to reach the emergency services were thwarted as he did not have a local contact number and had no signal.
After this point, Mr Emerton said he 'made the choice to go for help'.
His aim was to get to a village and call for a helicopter to help save his critically injured friend, the inquest heard.
He added: 'I wrapped Tom with the clothes we had spare and told him what I was doing but he was not responding.'
The route to find assistance was 'extremely treacherous' and included climbing down a cliff section and finding a way past a waterfall.
He got to the village and returned with three local men at about 6pm.
The court heard that Mr Emerton was 'extremely exhausted' by this time but noticed that his friend had not moved position, that he had a weak pulse and did not respond.
Rescue teams arrived hours later but it was not possible to get a helicopter to the scene.
The inquest heard the only option was to carry Mr Howard which meant moving 'incredibly slowly' and dealing with slippery rocks and tough conditions. Mr Emerton said they covered just 300-500 metres in three hours.
At some point the next morning one of the team told him that 'Tom was gone', the inquest heard.
They continued down the path and later that afternoon Mr Howard was placed in an ambulance and pronounced dead.
The inquest was a documentary hearing, which Mr Howard's family and friends decided not to attend.
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Defence barrister Brendan Grehan SC said that in a statement made to gardai after Mrs Satchwell went missing, she said that Satchwell was 'so obsessed with Tina that he couldn't have caused her harm'. 'That was before,' Ms Howard replied in court. Asked whether others in her family had seen Mrs Satchwell display violent behaviour, she said she was not sure. She also agreed with Mr Grehan that Satchwell had hand-delivered a birthday card for her in August 2017, which had been signed 'Tina and Richard' and contained two photographs. She further agreed that Mrs Satchwell's grandmother had raised her, and that Mrs Satchwell and her mother Mary Collins had fallen out in the years before she disappeared. When asked if Mrs Satchwell was resentful that her mother had not raised her, Ms Howard replied she could not say. Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard Satchwell contacted gardai on July 12 2017, to tell them that he saw two suitcases in the recycling area of Tesco carpark in Youghal. 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