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Touchline • Issue 17 • 21
A 21-year-old man died after crossing the finish line
of a triathlon in western Queensland on 2 February.
Tom Lyons collapsed shortly after completing the
triathlon in Goondiwindi, 360km south west of
Brisbane. The popular local sportsman was reportedly
on his way to the recovery area before his death.
The Hell of the West event is described on the official
website as ‘not for the faint-hearted’.
Mr Lyons, a former Toowomba Grammar School
student, was remembered by headmaster Peter Hauser
as a highly gifted student.
“He was a young man of high intellect and diligence,”
he said.
“[He was] a very humble young man and had the great
ability to relate to everyone.
“It [his death] will go right through the school
community.”
Hell of the West triathlon committee member Peter
Crothers said the young man had finished the race
and was on his way to the recovery area when he
collapsed. He said a fellow competitor and medical
staff rushed to the man’s aid after he collapsed.
“The first or second competitor behind him was a
doctor himself.” The man was taken to Goondiwindi
Hospital.
Mr Crothers said news of the man’s death was a shock
to all at the event.
Up to 700 people took part in the race, which
comprised of a 2km swim, 80km bike ride and 20km
run.
“It is the first incident we have had like this in 25
years.”
Goondiwindi police said the cause of the man’s death
was under investigation.
MAN, 21, COLLAPSES AND DIES AFTER
TRIATHLON
A young girl who drowned after being tossed into a river
while white-water rafting on holiday was unlawfully killed,
a coroner has ruled.
Cerys Potter, from Llancarfan, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales
died in 2010 in rapids on the Dalaman river in Turkey.
Coroner Christopher Woolley said gross negligence
manslaughter had contributed to her death.
Four men have been jailed for more than five years over
the fatal incident.
Cerys was sitting at the back of the inflatable raft with
13 people on board. The raft struck a rock and then
overturned, the inquest was told, throwing everyone on
board into the rough and fast-flowing water. The party was
reassured Cerys was safe, but she could not be seen.
The inquest heard a search was not launched by the
organisers for more than 40 minutes and Cerys’s body was
found two hours later.
A passenger on the raft had said he believed the boat was
overcrowded, that it had too many children on board, and
there were inadequate safety procedures.
The inquest heard those onboard had only received a
few minutes of safety briefings and were reassured by
organisers the trip was safe for someone as young as Cerys.
Rafting safety expert Paul O’Sullivan told the inquest the
Turkish company, which organised the rafting excursion did
not seem fit for purpose. He said children as young as nine
should not have been allowed on the trip.
Cerys’s parents Terry and Julie Potter said they had
discovered that eight previous incidents had happened on
the river in very similar circumstances and eight people
had been killed.
“I then discovered just how shambolic the whole
organisation of the river rafting was - the scant regard to
safety.
“They just wanted to sell trips to children when it was too
dangerous for them to be on that river,” said Mr Potter.
YOUNG GIRL IS ‘UNLAWFULLY KILLED
WHILSTWHITEWATER RAFTING’