A man died in front of his horrified fiancée after losing his balance while sliding down a staircase railing, an inquest heard. His “heartbroken” family paid tribute at an inquest into the death, which was held on Wednesday.
Man died in front of horrified fiancée as he tried to slide down stadium staircase railing
Jack Watson, 24, plummeted two stories down after a Christmas party at Derby County’s Pride Park stadium in November 2019. He was somewhere between “jolly and drunk” when he left Igor’s Lounge around midnight, said his partner Alexa Heacock, who later saw him fall and die moments later.
First aid was given and paramedics attended the scene, but Jack, of Chester Green, died from the head injuries he had suffered. His “heartbroken” family paid tribute at an inquest into the death, which was held on Wednesday and covered by DerbyshireLive .
The inquest, held at Derby Coroner’s Court, was told that Jack had attended the Christmas party held by his employer with Mrs Heacock when the incident occurred.
Giving evidence, he said they intended to go to Derby after the conclusion of the work party with some friends and were leaving the venue when the incident occurred.
Heacock said Jack, who worked as a design engineer for Expleo Limited, was “somewhere between tipsy and drunk” when the party ended.
“He decided it would be fun to slide down the railing. He went to slide down the railing on his butt to get to the end of the first landing. But he leaned back and fell all the way down the spiral staircase.”
She ran to the bottom of the stairs to find him lying on the floor and called an ambulance.
A nurse who was at the same party gave Jack first aid until an ambulance arrived.
But the paramedics were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy showed he had died of a head injury sustained in the fall, and the pathologist said in his opinion that Watson would have been unconscious “almost instantaneously.”
