Soldier killed on SAS hike had temperature of 106f
We’ve never seen a reading so high, paramedics tell inquest
A SOLDIER who died after a gruelling SAS selection march had a temperature of 105.8F – which medics said was the highest they had seen.
Corporal James Dunsby was one of three army reservists who lost their lives due to the hike, on one of the hottest days of the year. Yesterday, an inquest into their deaths heard Cpl Dunsby’s temperature was the highest ever encountered by medics who treated him.
Anything over 104F can be lifethreatening, research shows, while a normal temperature is between 97F and 99F. James Francis, a paramedic with 23 years of experience, told the inquest he realised 31-year-old Cpl Dunsby was dying after he collapsed during the 16-mile march across the Brecon Beacons in 80F heat.
He said: ‘I do recall his temperature was 41 degrees Celsius (105.8F), which was very high – the hottest I had ever seen. His pupils were dilated and glazed over like fish eyes. ‘I was very concerned about patient one (Cpl Dunsby ) who was showing signs of brain malfunction. I did not think he would survive. His body was shutting down.’
Mr Francis said he and other paramedics had arrived at the scene to help the soldiers at 5.15pm during the march on July 13, 2013.
Cpl Dunsby, who had previously served in Afghanistan with the Household Cavalry, was put into an ambulance at 5.38pm before being taken to hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.
The reservist, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, was moved to a hospital in Birmingham where he died two weeks later having suffered multiple organ failure.
‘Found clutching bottle of water’
Earlier, the inquest heard how a walker was asked to ‘fan down’ the stricken reservist.
The man, who was not named, was also asked to hold Cpl Dunsby’s head and monitor his breathing as the patient was stretchered from the hillside.
Another reservist, 31-year-old Lance Corporal Edward Maher, was still clutching a bottle of water when he was found dead, the hearing in Solihull, West Midlands, was told.
An Army medic, given the codename 1N, said he seemed at first to be simply resting.
‘He was sitting in a completely natural position, almost like he was just having a Condor moment, just having a rest,’ the medic told the inquest.
‘He had a half-eaten chocolate bar in one hand and his water bottle in the other.’ 1N said the lance corporal, a former regular soldier with the Royal Green Jackets, was ‘cold to the touch’.
The third reservist, Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, 24, died during the march after suffering hyperthermia, the inquest heard.
Birmingham and Solihull Coroner Louise Hunt asked another SAS member, giving evidence under the codename 1M, whether further marches should have been held in the week leading up to the hike to help candidates ‘acclimatise’ to the heat.
The soldier had already said that when he took part in a summer SAS selection course in 2003 a series of further hill walks had been held in the run-up to the final test march. ‘Do you think that’s a significant factor – that they didn’t do that – in what happened?’ asked the coroner.
Speaking from behind a screen in the witness box, 1M replied: ‘Decisions like that are made higher up.’ When pressed by the coroner if preparation marches might have helped the reservist candidates, 1M replied: ‘It may have.’ The hearing continues.