Paraglider Martin Dyer died doing what he loved, says daughter

Martin Dyer, a former Ipswich Town player, died in a paragliding accident in France last July

A former footballer who died in a paragliding accident told his family "if I die, at least I die doing what I love", his daughter has said.

Martin Dyer, 55, from Rhewl in Denbighshire, died after a crash near Annecy in the French Alps last July.

Beth Woolford, one of four children, said her dad had a "sense of adventure" that most people lose after childhood.

She told the inquest into his death, held in Ruthin, that it had been the family's "worst fear come true".

• Paraglider died from multiple injuries

• Former football player killed in paragliding crash

She said her father, a former Ipswich Town football player, had taken up paragliding about six years ago and loved it, regularly taking off from Moel Famau in Flintshire.

He later expanded his horizons by taking paragliding holidays abroad. 

On one occasion she said he was involved in a paragliding accident after taking off from Llantysilio Mountain and broke his back.

Ms Woolford said that the family began to fear they would lose him to his hobby, and the fatal accident in the French Alps was their "worst fears come true".

Martin Dyer died of multiple injuries after a paragliding accident near Annecy in the French Alps

However, Ms Woolford said the family took comfort in the fact he was doing something that brought him "so much joy".

The inquest also heard a statement from a friend and fellow paraglider, Brian Sanders, who was also flying at Talloire-Montmin in Haute Savoie, the day Mr Dyer died.  

Describing him as having been happy and in "good spirits", he said they had gone to the launch area together and had taken off in conditions he described as "windy".  

When he returned, he saw a helicopter flying back and forth in front of a prominent rock feature and saw orange material at the base, which looked like a paraglider wing.  

He later learned from another pilot that Mr Dyer had been in a fatal accident.

Recording a conclusion of misadventure, coroner John Gittins told Mr Dyer's family that he hoped it brought them comfort knowing his death occurred in "circumstances when he could not have looked any happier".