A British dad tragically died while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on the “trip of a lifetime”, a coroner has concluded.
Gerrard Kennedy travelled to Tanzania on February 17 last year, as part of a group trip organised by Adventure Code UK, a company which runs guided mountain hikes in the UK and overseas. But the dad-of-two, who was a ship manager at Cammell Laird Shipyard, sadly died after he developed severe altitude sickness during the hike.
The 41-year-old was described as an “extremely fit and active” man who enjoyed running, hiking and trekking – and didn’t have any known health problems. An inquest held at the Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool yesterday heard that Gerrard was among 14 people who participated in the hike.
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Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak, and its summit is 5,895 metres above sea level.
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Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Among the witnesses at the inquest were Thomas Code and Christopher English, owners of Adventure Code UK. The inquest heard the company used the services of Trekking Tanzania, a local firm, to guide the group on an eight-day hike of Mount Kilimanjaro. The local firm was led by a guide called Nelson, who was said to have over a decade of experience in leading expeditions.
Between 40 to 50 people formed Nelson’s support crew of guides, porters and chefs on the expedition, the inquest was told. All the guides were accredited as internationally-recognised “Wilderness First Responders”, the Liverpool Echo reported.
Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak and its summit is 5,895 metres above sea level. Given the dangers of hiking at high altitude, the group were given nightly medical checks in which readings were taken using a pulse oximeter, which measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. Gerrard had taken the precaution of visiting his GP prior to travel and was prescribed Diamox, which helps prevent altitude sickness.
The hike began on February 19 and the first couple of days of the expedition went smoothly, with the group reportedly in high spirits as they made their way up the mountain. On the third day, Gerrard reported having a mild headache, and that evening, his oxygen saturation reading was low, measuring just 55 per cent.
However, he was given the all clear to continue by the Tanzanian guides, with Mr Code and Mr English deferring to their expertise. An oxygen saturation level of 95 per cent is considered typical for most healthy people at sea level, though lower readings are expected at higher altitudes.
Then on the fourth day of the hike, February 22, Gerrard began experiencing more serious problems. According to Mr Code, what started as a slight cough turned into a “chesty rattle”, which sounded like “he had a walkie talkie in his chest.” He struggled to walk and was eventually carried by Nelson and the other guides, who took it in turns giving him piggybacks to get him to the safety of the nearest camp.
When they eventually arrived at the camp, Gerrard had a bowl of soup and went to bed. The guides decided he was not in a fit state to continue the hike, and they told him he would be evacuated from the mountain in a helicopter the following morning. Gerrard was said to be “gutted” by the decision, but accepted it was for the best.
However, during the night, his condition took a turn for the worse. In his tent, which he shared with Mr English, his breathing was shallow. Mr English told the inquest: “Ged said, ‘I can’t breathe’, so I shouted to Nelson for help. I left the tent and he was carried to the rescue hut and given oxygen.” He was then taken away on a stretcher for immediate evacuation from the mountain.
Although the group had brought three cylinders of oxygen with them on the expedition, Nelson decided that two cylinders would suffice to get Gerrard down to the “treeline”, where it was hoped he might be able to breathe more easily. Mr English told the inquest that he had asked Nelson prior to the descent if “two was enough.” He claimed he offered to travel to another camp to buy some more supplies, but Nelson reportedly told him, “we’ve got enough.”
At 11.30pm on February 22, the rescue crew began their descent towards the treeline with Gerrard on his stretcher. At this point, he was still talking and in good spirits, but things rapidly changed as his oxygen supplies dwindled.
Mr English said: “Ged told me, ‘the oxygen isn’t working’. I reassured him, but his breathing was becoming quicker. He was sweating and his skin was hot to the touch. Ten minutes after the oxygen ran out, he stopped talking.”
The guides placed him in the recovery position, but by then it was too late. Gerrard died on the stretcher on the way to the safety of the treeline. Following an eight hour descent, Gerrard’s body was repatriated to the UK. A post-mortem was carried out on March 11, which gave his cause of death as “high altitude illness”.
Assistant Coroner Mr David Lewis issued a narrative conclusion at yesterday’s inquest, ruling that Gerrard died due to developing altitude sickness while participating in a trek on Mount Kilimanjaro. He said that the oxygen saturation records taken by the local guides were “at best patchy and probably unreliable as a record”, but that “oxygen levels were checked.”
He stated that although Nelson the guide was satisfied that two oxygen cylinders would be sufficient for Gerrard’s descent when he became seriously ill, “that judgement call was incorrect.” Mr Lewis added: “Had more oxygen been available he wouldn’t have died where he did and when he did, and his death was precipitated by the ending of the oxygen supply.”
The coroner suggested in his concluding remarks that it would be helpful if companies like Adventure Code UK could “have a list of questions in place” to ask local tour companies like Trekking Tanzania. Mr Lewis paid tribute to Gerrard, whose family were present in court, saying he was “clearly an impressive young man” who died too soon.