School boy dies in a coma after accident on ski lift
A BRITISH schoolboy injured in a horrific accident on a French ski lift has died in a coma.
Kieran Brookes, 14, was strangled after becoming entangled on a chairlift as he tried to get off.
The youngster, from Newton Abbot, Devon, who was on a skiing trip with Torquay Boys’ Grammar School, was left hanging from the lift by a piece of clothing wrapped tightly around his neck.
The accident happened three weeks ago in the resort of Chatel in the Portes du Soleil.
He was airlifted back to the UK last week but remained unconscious. His parents Cindy and Nick were at his bedside when he died this week.
Kieran’s headteacher, Roy Pike, said he was one of the brightest maths prospects in the country.
“Kieran was a lovely boy, fully involved in the life of the school. In a recent national mathematics challenge Kieran was in the top five per cent of students. This is a devastating tragedy,” he added.
Kieran Brookes, 14, was strangled after becoming entangled on a chairlift as he tried to get off
Kieran was with three school friends on the school’s annual Spring half-term skiing break when a strap from his rucksack became wedged in the seat and he was dragged by the lift back down the mountain. Horrified holidaymakers looked on helplessly as the youngster desperately fought to free himself but he slipped and was left hanging from the lift by clothing which was throttling him.
All ski lifts in Chatel will stop for one minute in tribute to Kieran. The Mayor of Chatel, Nicolas Rubin, said: “Not a day goes by that we have not thought about this boy.”
