Kayleigh Harris: Snowboarder died after ski crash in French Alps

Miss Harris slipped and suffered a concussion after a skier crashed into her

A snowboarder who died following a collision on the slopes did not seek medical help because she feared the costs involved, an inquest has heard.

Holiday rep Kayleigh Harris, from Taunton in Somerset, was on a day off from her job at a hotel in the French Alps in 2016 when a skier hit her.

She eventually went into a coma and her life support was switched off in hospital.

Coroner Samantha Marsh said colleagues had "misinterpreted" her symptoms.

The inquest in Taunton heard on Monday that the hotel she worked in, Hotel Skilt in the resort of Les Menuires, was next to a doctor's surgery.

But Miss Harris feared spiralling costs if she were to seek medical advice.

'Quite jovial'

Medical bills for minor injuries could quickly exceed £600, her colleagues said, which was about the amount she was paid per month as a holiday rep.

There was also no guidance on head injuries from their employer, Skibound, the court heard.

On 30 March, the day of the collision, Miss Harris complained to the hotel's head chef Seann Peters of a headache at about 00:00 CEST.

"She was quite jovial and proud of her little bump, joking about the skier," Mr Peters said.

Miss Harris had barely eaten dinner and had declined to join a staff night out, but that behaviour was pretty normal for her, he added.

Mr Peters said he later found her drowsy on her sofa.

Deep sleeper

Staff at the hotel feared she was concussed, but chose to monitor her over the course of the night rather than call an ambulance.

In a statement, Mr Peters said she "got tired easily and was one of the deepest sleepers" he had ever met.

The court heard that various members of staff were not sure if she was only partially responding to their attempts to wake her due to the head injury or being a naturally deep sleeper.

An ambulance was called at about 08:00 on 31 March when Miss Harris stopped responding and by the time it arrived she was in a coma.

The inquest was told she was not taken to hospital until midday following a cardiac arrest and was resuscitated on the pavement before she was placed in the ambulance.

Her life support was switched off on 1 April.

The court heard that since Miss Harris' death, Skibound had updated its head-injury policy.

Her mother Suzanne Harris said: "I don't want to blame anyone, not even the skier, it was an accident.

"But people should just be aware (of head injuries)."

Listing the cause of death as head injury at the end of the inquest, Coroner Ms Marsh said she had no evidence to suggest Miss Harris would have survived if medical help had been sought sooner, but noted "she would at least have had a chance".

The skier who collided with her has never been traced.