'Our son's kickboxing death must lead to change'

Moments before 15-year-old Alex Eastwood headed down to the ring to compete in a charity kickboxing match, his father gave him a kiss and told him he loved him.

Stephen Eastwood, 40, never imagined this would be the last conversation he had with his son.

The champion kickboxer collapsed after the third and final bout of the match and died three days later in hospital.

After it came to light that he had been competing in an unsanctioned fight, his family launched a campaign for change in his memory.

During his inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court, Michael Pemberton, assistant coroner for Manchester West, concluded Alex died through misadventure.

He said neither Alex, nor his parents, appreciated the dangers of the "chaotic and somewhat disjointed" approach to children involved in combat sports.

He described the planning and lack of risk assessment before the fatal bout as "sub-optimal".

Alex fell in love with kickboxing after he started training at Hurricane Combat and Fitness in Liverpool at the age of nine and had a "meteoric" rise in the sport, his inquest heard.

The teenager, from Fazakerley, Liverpool, who had just finished his GCSEs, had agreed to take part in the charity fundraiser fight at TKMA Gym in Platt Bridge, Wigan, on 29 June 2024 .

The bout was to be the "main event", but it was an unsanctioned match, the inquest heard.

Tragedy struck when Alex collapsed after the third and final two-minute round of the "light contact" kickboxing match against a 17-year-old opponent.

Mr Eastwood told the inquest he "shouted that his son's head guard had come loose" in the second round, which was rectified.

He said he noticed his son's movements had become "slower" and he was "holding the rope" in the third round.

Alex Eastwood was a three-time world kickboxing champion

Speaking to BBC North West Tonight, Mr Eastwood said: "I looked at Nikita [Alex's step-mother] and across the room and shook my head as if to say 'what have we just witnessed?'"

He recalled how his son, who trained five times a week, appeared "sluggish and wasn't himself" before he "started throwing punches into thin air".

His father said no-one seemed to react to what was unfolding in front of their eyes as he remembered rushing to his son's side to put him in a recovery position.

"I just thought 'why is no-one else reacting to this? Am I seeing this straight? This isn't normal'," said Mrs Eastwood.

Alex, pictured with his family, competed at "high levels" in the sport

Alex was taken to the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan where doctors confirmed he had catastrophic brain damage and bleeding.

He was transferred to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital for surgery but he died on 2 July 2024 with his father at his bedside.

"From that point on there've just been questions of what, why, and trying to move forward with some sort of life, which is very difficult at the moment," his father said.

During a pre-inquest hearing into his death, Mr Pemberton took the unusual step of filing a Prevention of Future Death report as he said he was concerned there was no regulatory guidance for any child combat sports.

Alex's family have said they want change to be the 15-year-old's legacy

"To be told as parents that children are fighting in unregulated and unsanctioned fights and we don't know – it's shocking," said Mr Eastwood.

"We put him in a sport to help him, make him better in life and I'll never see him again now because of that sport."

Alex's family said the government needed to step in to regulate the sport to make it safer for children, adding there needed to be clear, enforceable, national protections for children's combat sports.

"It's a great sport for people – but as long as everyone comes home safe," said Mr Eastwood.

"It's not at the moment, because Alex hasn't come home safe."

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "Whilst the government does not, and should not, directly regulate sport, it is clear lessons must be learned."

She said her department was "exploring ways to improve the safety and welfare of children in martial arts".

Additional reporting by PA Media.