Parents of teen who died in Morocco heat hit out at trekking firm

 
Trek death: Sam Boon, 17
John Dunne @jhdunne14 January 2014

The father of a teenager who died in sweltering heat on a trekking expedition to Morocco today hit out at the company which organised the trip because of a lack of emergency rescue plans.

Ken Boon said he would never have allowed his son Samuel to go on July 2012 tour organised by World Challenge had he known that an evacuation vehicle would take more than an hour to arrive - and even then was a minbus rather than an air ambulance.

A coroner yesterday recorded a verdict of misadventure after the teenager, who was with friends from the Bexley Business Academy and lived in Abbey Wood, collapsed in soaring temperatures in the Atlas mountains.

His family claimed at the inquest that they were assured before the trip that a helicopter evacuation would be available if the group ran into an emergency.

Mr Boon said: “If we had known that in an emergency there would have been no helicopter, no ambulance, no medic, in fact the best emergency response available was a mini-bus with no medical assistance, we would never have allowed Sam to go.

“In fact I don’t think there is any school in the country that would go.”

Deputy assistant coroner for south London Selena Lynch recorded the verdict  of misadventure into to the death of the 6ft 2ins teenager, who weighed 20 stone.

The six day inquest at Bromley Coroners’s Court heard that a local guide was asked to get an ambulance but over an hour later a mini-bus arrived at the nearby road to transport the teenager to a medical centre.

Temperatures in the region soared to 39c and the group was to trek for several days before volunteering to help on a school building project in the region.

The coroner said: “Plans for evacuation relied almost entirely upon local agents to find and obtain appropriate facilities. They were appointed without their qualifications being checked or references obtained, and were not given any formal training.

“There were no arrangements in place for an ambulance with medical equipment and/or personnel to be provided in an emergency, and the facilities at local medical centres had not been assessed.”

Matt Eastlake, managing director of World Challenge, said: “Samuel Boon’s death was an absolute tragedy and our deepest sympathies remain with his family and friends.

“World Challenge’s highest priority is the safety of its participants and as the coroner noted, we have introduced a number of new measures since Samuel’s death, especially in terms of monitoring participant fitness.

“We will take time to reflect on the coroner’s findings and give serious consideration to any change or development where we feel appropriate which will improve safety further.”

The inquest heard that Samuel was prescribed medication for bed-wetting at the time of his death.

His mother Karen Boon told the inquest her son had a repeat prescription for the drug DesmoMelt, which he had taken with him to Morocco.

Mrs Lynch said the cause of Samuel’s death was either exertional heatstroke and/or hyponatremia - a condition where salt levels are reduced in the blood - caused by excessive intake and/or retention of water.

She said the teenager may have taken the medication in the “recent past” which can cause or contribute to hyponatremia but it was not possible to determine whether he did so - and if so, whether it contributed to the cause of death.

“The cause of Samuel’s death was contributed to by his obesity and lack of fitness and acclimatisation,” Mrs Lynch said.

“These risk factors and his tiredness and obvious difficulty in keeping up with the trek were not fully recognised by the leaders, who were inexperienced and lacking in local knowledge.”

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