Woman died after being hit by rugby ball - inquest

Jennifer Selwood died on 25 January 2020

A grandmother died after being struck 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.

A doctor at the inquest said Mrs Selwood suffered from diabetes and the blood disorder aplastic anaemia, which would cause "risk of significant bleeding" in the event of trauma.

Senior Somerset coroner, Samantha Marsh stated: "This was a very tragic, unforeseen and unintended consequence of the deliberate act, and so therefore this is entirely an accident".

Mrs Selwood's husband, Colin, told the hearing in Wells, Somerset, that the couple moved to a hard-standing gravel path linking two adjacent pitches as the sidelines were slippery.

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 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.”

The 69-year-old was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital on the morning of January 12, before being transferred to Southmead Hospital in Bristol, where she died two weeks later.

The accident happened at Taunton Rugby Football Club

Consultant haematologist Dr Sarah Allford had been providing long-term hospital treatment to Mrs Selwood for both her health conditions.

She said the impact of the ball would have been "sufficient" to cause "greater bleeding problems" in her patient, 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," Dr Allford added.

John Wrelton, chairman of Taunton RFC, said spectators were encouraged not to stand too close to the touchline to avoid collisions.

However, he had not considered being hit by a rugby ball to be "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.”

Since Mrs Selwood's death, changes have been made to extend the gaps between youth matches so warm-ups are not taking place on adjacent pitches hosting matches.