South Wales Echo

Mum heard ‘bang’ as car hit her son

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A MOTHER has described the moment she realised her “full of life” 13-year-old son had been hit by a car after hearing a bang as she boarded the bus he had walked her to meet.

Christophe­r Cole suffered severe head injuries having run into the path of an oncoming vehicle from behind the bus, and died at the scene near his home in St Athan, near Barry, on the evening of November 16 last year.

Yesterday an inquest into his death heard how the computer game enthusiast, who was known as “Worzel” to his family and friends, often walked his mother Cherrey Cole to meet the bus she caught to the nursing home where she worked.

In a statement read to Cardiff Coroner’s Court, Mrs Cole said Christophe­r was “happy” and “full of life” before they left home at around 6.15pm for the short walk to the bus stop on Eglwys Brewis Road.

She said she chatted to her son while they waited and then kissed him and told him she loved him when the vehicle arrived, before getting on.

“I was about to pay when I heard a skid and a bang,” she said.

“I was thinking that’s my boy. I ran off the bus and ran towards the back of the bus and saw Christophe­r lying in the road.”

Mrs Cole said she felt for a pulse and then moved out of the way when a medic from the nearby RAF base came to carry out CPR.

She said paramedics arrived and worked on her son but she was told before they left for the hospital that Christophe­r had died.

“I knew he was gone,” she added.

Aaron Harper, who was driving the Ford Focus that collided with Christophe­r, said in his statement that he was travelling at 30 to 35mph when he saw the boy.

He said: “As I was passing the back of the bus a small boy sprinted out in front of me.

“When I saw him I braked and gripped the steering wheel with two hands to brace myself.”

Mr Harper said his vehicle hit the boy who was thrown into the bonnet and then onto the road.

The inquest heard Mr Harper, who was described as “extremely upset and physically sick” when he was told Christophe­r had died, was tested for alcohol and drugs but both tests were negative.

Investigat­or Pc Chris Street said Mr Harper would only have been able to see Christophe­r approximat­ely 1.9 seconds before the collision.

He said: “Under the exact circumstan­ces it (the collision) was unavoidabl­e

In his statement Christophe­r’s father, Shane, said his son’s interests were “computers and computer games”, which he played all the time and he received excellent results from school.

“The whole family are devastated by our loss,” he said.

The cause of death was given as head injury.

Coroner Philip Spinney concluded that Christophe­r’s death had been the result of a road traffic collision.

He said Christophe­r would have been obscured from Mr Harper’s view while his ability to hear the oncoming car would have been hampered by the bus’s rear-mounted diesel engine.

He said: “This is truly a tragic accident where Christophe­r entered the carriagewa­y in circumstan­ces where a collision was unavoidabl­e.” unfortunat­ely.”

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