Somerset grandmother died after being hit by rugby ball while watching grandson play, inquest told

A grandmother died after being hit on the back of the head by a rugby ball as she watched her grandson play, an inquest heard.

Jennifer Selwood suffered a bleed on the brain after the accident at Taunton Rugby Football Club (RFC), in Somerset, in January 2020, and died two weeks later.

The inquest in Wells heard the 69-year-old had diabetes and the blood disorder aplastic anaemia, which would cause bleeding and clotting problems in the event of a trauma.

Mrs Selwood’s husband, Colin, told the hearing he and his wife moved position to a hard-standing gravel path linking two adjacent pitches because the sidelines were slippery.

He said they were standing next to each other watching their grandson play, when Mrs Selwood was hit by a ball from the adjacent pitch.

“She was struck. She just made a groan and collapsed to the ground, and I went down to support her,” Mr Selwood said.

“People came across and asked if she wanted a chair and water and that sort of thing.

“I think there was an off-duty doctor in attendance, and they just told me to stay there and hold the back of her head, which is what I did.”

Mrs Selwood was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital on the morning of 12 January, before being transferred to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, where she died two weeks later.

The inquest heard Mrs Selwood had diabetes and the blood disorder aplastic anaemia, for which she was undergoing long-term hospital treatment.

Consultant haematologist Dr Sarah Allford had been providing treatment to Mrs Selwood and told the inquest she would have been at “risk of significant bleeding” in the event of a trauma or surgery.

She said the impact of the rugby ball would have been "sufficient" to cause Mrs Sellwood "greater bleeding problems", compared to someone with a normal platelet count.

“Any bleeding had the potential to proceed more rapidly and to be more persistent with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality," she added.

Club chairman John Wrelton said spectators were encouraged not to stand too close to the touchline to avoid collisions with players, but he said he had not considered being hit by a rugby ball as “dangerous”.

“In a lifetime involved in the game and having attended probably thousands of rugby matches, balls go into crowds and sometimes they bump people and sometimes they knock beer over,” he said.

“It is impossible to stay face forward to a match for every minute of the game. Genuinely I have never thought of it as a life-threatening risk.”

Taunton RFC said since Mrs Selwood’s death, changes have been made to extend the gaps between youth matches so warm-ups are not taking place on pitches adjacent to games in play.

Senior Somerset coroner Samantha Marsh recorded a conclusion of accidental death and said she was satisfied there was a risk to spectators watching a game while another team warmed up on an adjacent pitch.

She said Mrs Selwood’s decision to stand where she did “wasn’t foolish, it wasn’t unreasonable, and she most certainly cannot be considered to be the author of her own misfortune”.

She added: “I am satisfied that a lack of thought has been given to those in control of the potential and foreseeability of this happening, and consequently steps have not been taken to minimise the risk because those risks have not been considered,” Ms Marsh said.

“I am satisfied that this was a very tragic, unforeseen and unintended consequence of the deliberate act, and so therefore this is entirely an accident.

“This accident was contributed to by poor supervision and spectator safety management.”