Death of George Francis O'Hara

Boy's Tree fall accident tragic accident April 18th 1967

The death of George Francis O'Hara, son of Mr and Mrs Joseph O'Hara of 30 Raglan Street Halifax was described as a particularly tragic accident by the Halifax District Coroner, Mr B. W. Little OBE when he recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest today.

The boy died after falling from a tree in Lister Lane Cemetery Gibbet Street on April 18th.

Mr Joseph O'Hara said that his son was fond of all kinds of children's activities, he broke his collar bone nine months ago when he fell off a wall at Pellon Lane School but had made a good recovery from his injury.

Eight year old Paul Lawton said that he had been playing with George when the accident occurred. George had climed up one side of the tree and he the other side but when George reached the top of the tree a branch broke and he fell. Paul said he ran across the road to get help for him. Staff Nurse Margaret Rose Buckley said she was in the porter's office at St John's Hospital just after 5 pm when a boy came in and said that a boy had fallen from a tree in the Cemetery. She found the boy still hanging from the tree by his jumper, she lifted him down and gave him mouth to mouth resuscitation until the ambulance came to take him to the Royal Halifax Infirmary.

Detective Sergeant Donald Fotherby said that the boy had fallen from a rhodedendron bush, he found a broken branch 5 foot from the ground and another about 2 foot from the ground, there were blood stains running at the base of the lower branch to the ground. It seems as though the boy had fallen backwards from the top branch and caught his head on the lower branch, said the Sergeant.

Dr Roger G. Pyrah, Pathologist at St James's Hospital, Leeds said that the boy had an oval cut below his left ear, a piece of wood was in the muscle at the base of the scull and this had severed the spinal cord causing almost instance death.

The Coroner said that it was in the nature of small healthy boys to want climb trees. It had been established that the boy's death had been a pure accident