Death of new dad was ‘silly, tragic accident’
THE death of a new dad, who drowned when his canoe overturned, has been described by a coroner as a “silly, tragic accident”.
On July 18 last year Mark Hill, 40, made the fateful ‘last-minute’ decision to take his canoe to Amberswood Lake in Wigan.
He had only become a father 14 weeks earlier, having wanted a child for the past 20 years.
Following two failed rounds of IVF, Mark’s fiancée Lisa Veasey conceived naturally and gave birth to ‘miracle baby’ Corey.
Unbeknown to his loved ones, Mark had been “between three and four times the drink drive limit” the day he took his canoe out and he got into difficulty shortly after taking to the water, Bolton Coroner’s Court heard.
Timothy Brennand, the senior coroner for Manchester West, told the court that a couple had been walking past the lake at around 3.40pm and spotted Mark struggling in the water.
Just before firefighters arrived, Mark tragically went under the water and didn’t resurface.
It took emergency services until 9.10pm to retrieve Mark’s body – it was 40 metres from the shore.
A statement from Mark’s GP revealed that in 2015, he had been to the doctors to raise concerns about his level of alcohol consumption. His doctor also said Mark took co-codamol to treat back pain.
Ms Veasey had previously told the court that Mark was a ‘social drinker’ but had stopped drinking when she became pregnant in an act of solidarity.
Talking about the day of his death, she said: “He did not have a drink that day as far as I could see.
“He had bought a canoe about two years ago but never used it because I didn’t want him to.’’
On the moment she found out he had died, she added: “I was in shock. This was a silly, tragic accident. He was fine that morning and we’d had a lovely family evening the night before.”
A post mortem examination revealed the medical cause of death was drowning and a toxicology report showed a considerable amount of alcohol, plus codeine and paracetamol, consistent with therapeutic use.
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Mr Brennand added: “As far as his partner in life goes, she was of the view that he was not drinking. He’s been left to his own devices and seems to have acquired for himself a significant quantity of alcohol and decided to take the canoe.’’