Sudden death of soldier was an ‘unforeseen tragedy’, says report

THE SUDDEN death of a gifted soldier during an Army fitness test was an “unforeseen tragedy” stemming from an underlying medical condition, an official report has concluded.

Corporal Josh Hoole, 26, of The Rifles, died in July last year in Brecon, Mid Wales, after collapsing while on pre-course training for the Platoon Sergeants’ Battle Course.

A probe into the incident concluded the cause of his death was “within the definition of sudden arrhythmogenic death syndrome (SADS)” – a condition that affects the heart.

A panel found Cpl Hoole himself would not have known of his susceptibility to SADS and that it was reasonable for the Army not to have known about the problem. While it has made a number of recommendations for the future, it stressed none of the areas examined directly contributed to, or aggravated, the soldier’s death.

Cpl Hoole, from Ecclefechan, near Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, had been due to marry his fiancee this year.

He was taking part in a training session as part of a course which was described as “both mentally and physically demanding”. Cpl Hoole collapsed at about 6.30am on July 19, 2016, when temperatures later peaked at just above 30C (86F). A Ministry of Defence (MoD) service inquiry (SI) into the death was carried out by the Defence Safety Authority, with the findings now made available.

The report has not revealed the exact cause of death but found it was “within the definition of SADS”.

It found a combination of SADS trigger factors – exercise, heat, adrenaline and potentially an imbalance of blood salt levels – were “contributory to this accident”.