Rugby girl dies a month af ter being tackled
Promising graduate suffered stroke
A FEMALE rugby player died from brain injuries a month after a heavy tackle during a game, an inquest heard.
Masters graduate Sarah Chesters, 23, collapsed after suffering a stroke, most likely triggered by the force of being bundled to the ground by a larger opposition player.
Miss Chesters, who obtained a first-class history degree before studying for an MSc in sociology of sport at Loughborough University, was playing at full back for Longton RUFC’s ladies team in Staffordshire when she was tackled during the match on October 19 last year.
A coroner heard how Miss Chesters, who was only 5ft 2in, complained of pain in her collarbone following the tackle, but walked off the pitch and declined an offer to call an ambulance.
Teammate Lesley Thompson told the hearing the tackle was ‘nothing malicious or heated’, but said Miss Chesters was left ‘lying flat on the floor, holding her right collarbone’.
Over the following weeks she continued her regular 160-mile commute by train from Stokeon-Trent to London, where she worked as a research intern at Women in Sport, a charity that promotes participation in sport.
But she felt dizzy at work on November 13 and visited a walkin centre. She was advised to rest and made an appointment with an out- of-hours GP once she returned home that night.
But the inquest heard that before she could get there, Miss Chesters, who was also a talented footballer, was violently sick and was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital.
Tests later revealed she had suffered a stroke. Her condition rapidly deteriorated and she died on November 21 after coming off life support.
Neurosurgeon Simon Shaw told the inquest that while her death was caused by multiple strokes, the ‘likelihood’ was that the trigger had been ‘ blunt trauma’ to the side of the neck in the tackle a month earlier.
This, in turn, had damaged an artery, with a blood clot then leading to the strokes.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, North Staffordshire Coroner Ian Smith said: ‘She was tackled, she went down.
‘When the injury occurred is not totally clear. It may have been the result of the impact or the result of hitting the deck.’
Miss Chesters’ father, Michael, 65, said his daughter had loved rugby since she was introduced to the game while studying at Manchester Metropolitan University. ‘Despite her small stature she was extremely strong,’ he said.
She represented the university for three years and in March the team held a charity match in her memory t hat r aised more than £ 2,000 f or the Stroke Association, Women in Sport and a local hospice.
Jez Moss, club manager at Longton RUFC, said they were ‘shocked and deeply saddened’ t o hear of her death and described her as a ‘ valued member of our club’.