The partner of a woman who died after she became trapped in sea defence rocks and drowned has said he hopes that “no other family has to go through what we went through”.
The inquest into the death of Saffron Cole-Nottage was finally brough to a close on Friday, more than a year on from her sudden and tragic death last February.
Ms Cole-Nottage was walking her dog on the evening of February 2, accompanied by one of her children. She slipped, falling headfirst and becoming trapped in the rocks.
Despite passers by rushing to her aid and calling the emergency services, Ms Cole-Nottage could not be freed in time. She drowned at the scene.
In summing up the evidence, area coroner Darren Stewart OBE said he found the advice given from the 999 call handler for members of the public not to attempt to move Ms Cole Nottage as “extraordinary”. The handler, Daniel Joy, was following a computer-generated script for the ‘entrapment’ scenario, rather than drowning.
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Mr Stewart also bemoaned the fact that the ambulance service had not alerted the fire service earlier.
Once the fire service had arrived and begun their rescue attempt, Ms Cole-Nottage was freed within 30 seconds – but by this point it was too late.
Mr Stewart said he will be writing a Prevention of Future Deaths report which will be sent to the chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service Trust and to the head of NHS England.
Following the inquest Ms Cole-Nottage’s partner, Michael Wheeler, said: “Saff was truly one of a kind, bubbly, fun, and full of life. She had the rare ability to light up any room, lifting the spirits of those around her.
"It has been a long and difficult 15 months to get here. We have finally got some closure and an understanding of what actually happened to Saff that night. Hopefully the emergency services have listened to the coroner and going forward no other family has to go through what we went through.”
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