Killed by his party trick
‘Athletic’ son of top surgeon died swimming underwater at brother’s 21st
A ‘FIT and healthy’ Cambridge graduate died after performing an underwater swimming challenge that had been his ‘party trick’ since he was a child, an inquest heard yesterday.
Dominic Hamlyn, 24, an accomplished rugby player and rower, became unresponsive while swimming in a pool at his brother Benedict’s 21st birthday party at the family’s £ 3million farmhouse in Crundale, Kent.
His father Peter Hamlyn, one of the country’s leading neurosurgeons, gave his son CPR as his brother held his hand before paramedics arrived.
Mr Hamlyn was taken to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford but died about 15 hours later on July 28 last year.
Medical experts disagreed about the cause of death but assistant coroner Scott Matthewson yesterday said it was sudden adult death syndrome and ruled that he died of natural causes.
The inquest at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone, Kent heard Mr Hamlyn had challenged a friend of his brother to swim lengths of the pool underwater, and had completed two-and-a-half before he stopped moving.
His father said Mr Hamlyn could normally swim four or five lengths underwater. ‘Dominic had a party trick. He could swim lengths of our pool underwater. He explained if you took deep breaths and swam steadily you could go further than you think,’ he told the hearing.
‘It was an entirely routine thing which I had seen him do since he was a child. It wasn’t unusual.’
When Mr Hamlyn became unresponsive, guests dragged him out and of a medical the pool student ‘within began seconds’ performing CPR.
His father, Peter, who saved the life of boxer Michael Watson following a brain injury suffered in a 1991 bout against Chris Eubank, then took over. ‘He was completely unresponsive,’ he said. ‘I turned him over to get the water out his lungs and carried on the CPR. He wasn’t even coughing. He was just floppy. I was determined, I was just thinking that once the paramedics got here and it would be OK. He was a fit and healthy young man He was a dedicated athlete. He had no underlying medical conditions and was in a good place mentally. He was training very hard to transition from playing rugby to row competitively.’ Earlier in the evening of July 27 last year, Mr Hamlyn and his two brothers had given speeches after dinner and he was not intoxicated, his father said.
‘Dominic had certainly been drinking but he was not incapable. It was a very well behaved party and I’m not aware of any drugs being involved. Dominic had stayed sober until the speeches,’ he said.
Mr Hamlyn, who attended The King’s School in Canterbury, graduated from University College London with a first in engineering and science in 2017 before studying for a Masters at the University of Cambridge. He played for UCL’s rugby first XV and in 2014 ran the London Marathon, raising £5,700 for the Brain and Spine Foundation. He was inspired to do so after watching his surgeon father walk the route with boxer Watson over six days in 2003. Mr Hamlyn had also recently taken part in a competitive university rowing race. Away from his studies, the 24year-old had co-founded an online retail business. A post-mortem gave the cause of death as multiple organ failure with acute respiratory distress syndrome and drowning as contributing factors. But experts disagreed over what had triggered his death.
Pathologist Dr Olaf Biedrzycki told the inquest that shallow water blackout – a loss of consciousness underwater caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain – was a contributing factor that led Dominic to inhale water, which triggered organ failure.
But Mr Hamlyn’s father and professor Perry Elliott, a cardiologist instructed by the family, argued he had a cardiac condition similar to that of footballer Fabrice Muamba, who collapsed while playing for Bolton Wanderers in 2012.
Mr Hamlyn’s father suggested his son had suffered a heart attack and may have been a victim of sudden death syndrome.
He and Mr Hamlyn’s mother, Geraldine, held hands and wept as assistant coroner Mr Matthewson gave his ruling, which acknowledged the differences in medical opinion.
Concluding that the 24-year-old died of natural causes he said: ‘Dominic was the oldest of his two brothers Gabriel and Benedict. They have an extremely close and happy family environment.
‘The world was at his feet. There was nothing more that could have been done for Dominic.
‘The only real issue relates to the medical cause of death. Did he suffer a primary cardiac event midswim or did he drown? The alternative matter is that he was the victim of shallow water blackout.
‘The medical cause of death was acute cardiac arrhythmia – sudden adult death syndrome.’
‘He wasn’t coughing – he was just floppy’