The inquest into the death of Greg Roult, a 27-year-old man with complex needs including epilepsy concluded on 22nd January 2021 at County Hall, Preston, after a six year wait for his parents to get answers as to how their son tragically died.
Greg’s parents were represented throughout the proceedings by specialist inquest solicitor Kelly Darlington and her team at Farleys. The jury heard evidence over the course of three days before concluding that Greg’s death, which occurred in 2016, was a result of near drowning and insufficient supervision and inadequate medical treatment.
At the time of his death, Greg was on holiday at the Sonesta Beach Resort in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt with two of his carers, who were employed by Lancashire County Council. Greg was in the swimming pool with both carers when he suffered a seizure. He was found lying at the bottom of the pool, but despite attempts to save his life, largely by one of his carers and other holidaymakers, he sadly died later that day in hospital.
It has taken six years for the inquest into Greg’s death to take place. Despite repeated efforts to obtain information from Egypt, the hotel, hotel doctor and hospital failed to cooperate.
Having heard evidence from a number of witnesses to Greg’s death including the two carers, senior managers at Lancashire County Council, the hotel representative and holidaymakers that made efforts to save Greg; the jury, in reaching their conclusion as to how and in what circumstances Greg came about his death recorded the following:
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Due to Greg’s complex needs resulting from his cerebral palsy and epilepsy, Greg required constant supervision
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The bungalow where Greg lived with his carers required decorating and a holiday for Greg during this time was agreed to avoid disruption
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The holiday guidelines were completed by carers with the destination agreed by Greg’s mother;
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A swimming risk assessment was reviewed as part of these guidelines, but was not tailored to the trip to Egypt and the associated risks
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No risk assessment was listed with these guidelines
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These guidelines were signed and authorised by 3 separate managers despite risk assessments not being listed
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Whilst Greg’s carers conducted an onsite risk assessment relating to depth of the pool, proximity of room and availability of refreshments, this pool did not have a lifeguard and was a considerable distance to the doctor’s clinic.
Furthermore:
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On the 26th March 2015 after returning from a boat trip, Greg’s carers decided that it would be beneficial to take him to the pool to help with transitioning to the evening activities
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After a duration of time in the pool visual contact from the carers was lost with Greg for an unclear amount of time
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Taking into account of the statements, it is deemed that the carers were not in a reasonable proximity to provide immediate support
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Following Greg’s removal from the water he became conscious but deteriorated after a period of time
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On the basis of the medical advice it was believed that the CPR and assistance provided by carers and other British tourists was sufficient
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The onsite doctor’s intervention and equipment were deemed not fit for purpose, this resulted in a carer and tourist taking over the CPR
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Following this the medical provision provided by the Egyptian healthcare was inadequate. This is due to no CPR being practiced on Greg by the ambulance
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The hospital were misleading on the amount of time and level of care that Greg received, which we believe on the balance of probability to be inadequate.
HM Area Coroner James Newman intends to send a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Foreign Commonwealth Office and the Association of British Travel Agents setting out his grave concerns about the hotel doctor’s ability and qualifications, the medical equipment at the hotel and the lack of medical treatment carried out by paramedics and hospital doctors. The report will be forwarded to the Sonesta Beach Resort and the Sharm International Hospital however given the lack of cooperation from them to date, it is unlikely any response will be forthcoming.
Coping with the loss of a loved one is a devastating and traumatic time under any circumstances but it can be made more distressing if there is uncertainty as to the cause of their death. Farleys’ inquest team has a wealth of experience in assisting families at this difficult time and can provide you with the professional support and advice you need.
Contract us for a no obligation discussion of your situation on 0333 331 4602 or email us.
