Mum from Solihull dies from heat exhaustion on family holiday in Arizona

A Solihull mum on a family holiday died alone in the baking 104°F heat on Arizona’s Camelback Mountain, an inquest has heard.

Ravinder Takhar, who had been in good health, was overcome by heat exhaustion and is thought to have fallen into a ravine.

The body of the 48-year-old customer liaison officer, from Elmbridge Drive in Monkspath, was discovered five hours later by park rangers.

Ravinder was on holiday with her husband Jaspal and son Aaron, and they decided to climb to the summit of the 2,700ft peak, near Phoenix.

Her husband Jaspal told the inquest how he and his wife successfully climbed the mountain with their son.

They reached the summit and were about to come down when Ravinder wanted to rest for a short while and said she would catch them up.

Jaspal and Aaron continued down the mountain but alarm bells rang when Ravinder failed to follow.

When she did not arrive at an agreed rendezvous point, he alerted a park ranger who, in turn, contacted emergency services.

After a five-hour search and rescue operation, Ravinder’s body was discovered deep in a ravine off the main trail.

Jaspal said that on the day of the mountain trek, his wife had appeared to be in good health and ate her breakfast without problems.But the heat in the park had be punishing. At the time the temperature on the mountain had been recorded at 104°F (40°C).

Birmingham coroner Louise Hunt said a post-mortem examination carried out in America had concluded the mum’s death was the result of complications from environmental heat exposure. She recorded that her death had been accidental.

Grieving son Aaron Takhar, 21, from Shirley, described his ‘Mama’ Ravinder, who worked for Taylor Wimpey, as his best friend and hero.

In a special message read out at her funeral, he also referred to his mum as his ‘teacher, chef, coach and sofa buddy.'