Brit snowboarder died hours after she fell and skier crashed into her

A British snowboarder died after a ‘sad and tragic accident’ where an unidentified skier struck her in the head.

Kayleigh Harris, 23, fell off her board in 2016 and the skier crashed into her, cracking her helmet and breaking her goggles.

She was a hotel representative working at Les Menuires in the French Alps at the time, but on the day of the accident was taking a day off.

Head chef at the hotel, Sean Peters, told an inquest in Taunton, Somerset: ‘She said it all happened really quickly. The skier said sorry and skied off and did not help her.’

Even after showing him her injuries she said the skier – thought to be from either Belgium or the Netherlands – was ‘almost jovial about it’.

Kayleigh apparently said of him, ‘What a d**k,’ but told colleagues she ‘felt fine’ and didn’t require any medical treatment.

But later on March 30 she complained of a headache and had been sick, and took some paracetamol.

Sean and a night porter checked on her every two hours through the night, noting she was in a ‘deep sleep’.

But by the next morning her breathing had become shallow and she was not conscious.

Kayleigh was flown to Grenoble University Hospital but had a heart attack in the ambulance. She died after being on life support for two days and her organs were donated to help save the lives of others.

A post-mortem in France said she suffered a significant blood clot in her skull but one back in England could not ascertain her cause of death, adding there was no fracture to her head.

The coroner was further told Kayleigh had collapsed and lost consciousness a number of times previously back at home in Somerset, but doctors had never figured out whether she had a cardio or neurological problem.

Kayleigh’s mum, Suzanne, 51, said: ‘No one acted in her best interests. I don’t want to blame anyone but there are so many holes.’

She had previously failed to bring a manslaughter case over her daughter’s death.

Delays to the eventual hearing of the inquest are thought to have been caused by this and arguments between doctors.

The managers of the hotel she worked in called Kayleigh ‘happy, professional, hard working, enthusiastic’.

The acting senior coroner, Samantha Marsh, concluded although the unknown skier’s actions were ‘morally reprehensible’, there was no suggestion it was deliberate or an offence had been committed.

She told the court: ‘It was bad luck being on the slopes. He may not have been aware of the injuries caused to her.’

Mrs Marsh said ‘tragically she underestimated her injuries’ and was ‘satisfied’ Kayleigh’s motivation not to seek medical attention was due to the cost.

She added if help had been summoned more quickly there could have been ‘at least a chance’ to save her, but in the end ‘it was too late’.

The coroner said since Kayleigh’s death practices and procedures have been put in place for people suffering head injuries.

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