24 May 2023 , 11:06
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A distraught dad wept after being told his talented young footballer son may have survived being electrocuted during a kick-about if paramedics hadn't been sent to the wrong location.
An inquest has heard medics took 23 minutes to reach Luke Bennett, 17, after pals raised the alarm when a pole he was holding touched an overhead power line.
Witnesses were advised by a 999 call handler not to touch him as he lay dying in case they too were electrocuted.
And a further error in recording the call meant a defibrillator at the football club was not located, Preston Coroners Court heard.
Luke, a junior footballer with National League club AFC Fylde in Lancashire, died after delays getting treatment in the vital few minutes after the shock.
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Tragic up-and-coming footballer Luke Bennett was struck by 11,000 volts leaving his family broken (LancsLive / MEN Media)Consultant cardiologist Dr Ian Schofield said he may have saved had CPR been administered up to 10 minutes after the shock.
He added: "It is more likely than not that he would have survived had CPR been started earlier.
"And if a defibrillator had been available and used within the first 10 minutes it is highly likely he would have survived."
Luke was one of three teenagers hit by 11,000-volts after a metal pole they were playing with touched overhead power lines.
The two others, Lewis Geszke and Ben Wilcox, were knocked unconscious but recovered soon after.
The three boys had been playing football with others after climbing through a hole in the fence at the Euxton Villa ground in Runshaw Hall Lane, Chorley, in March 2021.
They picked up a metal pole they'd found at the side of the pitch and were lifting it up when there was a flash, the inquest heard.
Eyewitness Ben Doherty said the three had been trying to stand the pole up on its end.
Suddenly there was "sizzling and sparks" and all three collapsed shaking to the floor, he said.
George Cooper said he'd been playing football 50 metres away from the boys when he heard a "buzzing noise" and saw flames at the top of the pole.
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He had been playing football with seven of his close friends when he died (LEP / SWNS)Sam Waddington added that when he raced over to the three, Lewis was beginning to come round, but he couldn't get an answer out of Luke.
Ambulance service call records showed a 999 call was received at 5.58pm from one of the boys at the football ground.
But the first paramedics only arrived at the scene 23 minutes later at 6:21pm.
The ambulance crew were told the location was a pitch next to Runshaw College.
After valuable minutes were lost searching that area, they were finally diverted to the real address, the court was told.
At the scene the call-handler had told the teenager who had called 999 that Luke should not be touched to avoid further casualties.
And because the handler thought the boy had said Euxton, not Euxton Villa, a defibrillator at the club wasn't identified on the ambulance service records.
When ambulance crews and a flying doctor eventually arrived, they took over from a police officer who had already begun CPR. But despite desperate efforts to revive Luke, he was pronounced dead at 6:48pm - 50 minutes after the 999 call had been made.
Emergency doctor Matthew Spence told the inquest he too was directed to the wrong site before eventually being re-routed to Euxton Villa.
He said when he checked Luke there was no pulse. He said the team did all they could, but failed to revive him.
In a heartbreaking tribute issued after his death, Luke's family expressed their "inconsolable" grief and said "his beautiful light will never go out".
The inquest, before Area Coroner Kate Bisset, continues.