A teenager who suffered a fatal cardiac arrest while playing football was not given basic life support as people on the pitch and the 999 operator could not identify what was happening, an inquest has found.
Details of the incident
Adam Ankers, 17, collapsed while playing for Wycombe Wanderers under-19s in January 2024. The inquest at West London Coroner's Court found that individuals on the pitch did not administer basic life support and did not know how to use an Automated External Defibrillator, even though it was brought onto the pitch.
When paramedics arrived, they delivered life support, but Adam had already suffered a hypoxic brain injury due to the delay. He was taken to hospital, where he died on February 4, 2024, from unsurvivable brain damage. After his death, it was discovered that he had an inherited heart condition that had not been identified at the time.
Coroner's findings
Assistant Coroner Valerie Charbit conducted a report on preventing future deaths. It found that the 'inadequate' emergency response on the pitch was due to the Football Association's lack of Sudden Cardiac Arrest training for its officials and clubs. She also noted a 'difficulty' in regular people, including ambulance call handlers, in understanding the signs of agonal breathing or cardiac arrest.
The heart condition that Adam inherited was also not identified because his immediate family were not notified. In 2018, his paternal grandmother's cousin was diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). Adam’s grandmother was made aware of ARVC by her cousin in 2022 and was admitted for an ablation. By the time of Adam’s death, Adam, his parents, siblings, and grandmother had not had any genetic testing for ARVC or the gene variant identified in Glasgow in 2018. Ms Charbit suggests that communication about genetic or hereditary diseases is 'imperfect' because it does not always inform families that need to know.
Prevention of future deaths
Her prevention of future death report was sent to various organisations, including South Central Ambulance Service, NHSE, The Football Association, Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK, The English Institute of Sport, NHSE (NHS Inherited Cardiac Conditions Clinic), and the UK National Screening Committee. The coroner hopes that the report will prevent similar deaths.
