Parents of tragic Lily Partridge urge all players to have brain scans if they suffer head injuries – Devon Live

The heartbroken parents of a popular Exeter rugby player Lily Partridge who died of a head injury after playing the sport she loved have said she will never be forgotten by the people who loved her.

An inquest at Exeter's County Hall today heard that although the 22-year-old, of Exeter, had suffered other previous head injuries, it was an incident during a training session on December 6, 2015, that caused her death. However, the exact cause of how she sustained the injury was unable to be determined.

After the hearing, her heartbroken parents Jeff and Liz urged players to have brain scans if suffer any head injury during matches.

The 61-year-old couple, from Exeter, Devon, said: "Lily loved playing rugby and her dream was to represent Devon. She was the victim of a tragic accident and no one is to blame for what happened to her.

"Rugby is a hard game and Lily took all the precautions to protect herself when playing.

"She had suffered a couple of concussions earlier in the year but had seen her GP and had followed the RFU protocols in taking time off not playing.

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Lily Partridge

"A brain scan may have spotted any weakness caused by those head injuries. If we had known that her life may be in danger by playing rugby again, obviously she would have stopped immediately.

"Lily wore all the right gear when she played the scrumcap, mouth guard and so on but that wasn't enough to save her.

"In her final match she felt dizzy and came off the pitch feeling unwell after a minor contact with another player. But she collapsed on the sidelines and never recovered.

"We would like to see all players at every level of the game male, female, young or old - receive proper medical treatment for head injuries which would include scans.

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"A scan however funded either by the NHS or privately because of the costs involved would let a player know whether they were putting themselves in any life threatening danger.

"Professional rugby players have retired from the game because they cannot risk the prospect of further concussions.

"It is a great game involving big, strong, heavy, fit athletes but we need to make it as safe as possible.

"There are many thousands of girls and women playing rugby and Lily, like us, wants that to continue.

"While we will never recover from the loss of our beautiful daughter, we are immensely proud of the gift of life she gave to scores of people through her organ donation.

"She will never be forgotten by the people who loved her and dozens more who she never met."

They said their oldest daughter had never been happier in both her 'professional and private life' when she suffered the injury at North Tawton, Devon.

Lily, of Knowle Drive, Exwick, was one of about 10 players from Exonian Ladies, based at Topsham Rugby Club, who were among around 40 players from across Devon who had been invited to attend a development training session at North Tawton Rugby Club, run by Devon RFU, with the aim of forming a Devon Ladies County Team because there had not been one for a few years.

The session began at 12.30pm, and it was later in the afternoon when the players were divided into teams to play mini games that Lily complained of feeling unwell.Stephanie Wilson, representing Devon RFU, recalled in a statement how 10 minutes before the end of the second match and joining the scrum, Lily told the referee she had a headache.

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"The referee asked if she was okay and if she had hit her head," she said. "Miss Partridge said she was fine and had knocked her head earlier. The referee suggested she go to the side of the pitch.

"Miss Partridge walked off the pitch and didn't appear to be in any discomfort or distress."

Her coach suggested she did not take part in any further activities that day and within five minutes her condition had deteriorated.

Miss Wilson continued: "Miss Partridge said she felt sick and got on to all fours as if she was going to be sick. She was not sick, however, after a few minutes it became clear Miss Partridge was fairly unwell and her coach called an ambulance."

By her side was Topsham captain Katie Lunnon who said she had not seen Lily being injured or involved in any intense contact that day. She recalled how she saw she became unresponsive and then started snoring loudly shortly after saying she felt sick.

"It was obvious she had passed out," she said, and after seeking medical help, added: "When I returned to Lily she had stopped breathing."

She added: "The ambulance seemed to take a long time to arrive as we were in a very rural village. Several people took turns to carry out CPR."

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Three ambulances arrived at the scene at different times, the first at 3.35pm - five minutes after the emergency call was made. An air ambulance in North Devon was unable to attend due to poor weather conditions so one was deployed from Exeter, and arrived around 4pm after being hampered by poor visibility.

Lily, a zoo keeper, was taken to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital where she died the following day on December 7. After her family was told there was no more that could be done for her they consented to her organs being donated to help others.

The cause of Lily's death was confirmed as diffuse cerebral hypoxia - when the brain is completely deprived of oxygen -, along with an out of hospital cardiac arrest and a closed head injury while playing rugby.

Lily's medical history from her GP revealed she had suffered two previous concussions that year, the first being in March 2015, after suffering a head injury while playing rugby. She had not lost consciousness but had reported having intermittent headaches which was diagnosed as post-concussion headaches.

She stopped playing rugby for a month and then following a full recovery she resumed playing and suffered another head injury on April 1, during a hold tackle which resulted in the back of her head hitting the floor. Again she did not lose consciousness but suffered headaches afterwards and reported feeling "slow in thought". She was diagnosed with a concussion injury.

Then a few weeks later on April 27, she attended the walk-in centre at the RD&E after hitting her forehead on a cupboard at work. She was diagnosed with mild concussion.

Lily's partner and fellow teammate Anne-Marie McIntyre also recalled in a statement how a few days before her death she had blacked out and fainted.

"It scared the life out of me," she said. "She started to convulse and fit, but it was not an epileptic fit." She added: "I told Lily I thought she needed to see her GP and she said she would look into it."

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The inquest heard Lily instead she investigated the episode on Google instead because she felt she had seen her GP so many times and felt it was "just one of those things".

Dr Richard Thomas, a consultant radiologist at the RD&E, told the inquest that a CT scan taken of Lily's injury showed it had occurred recently and the most likely cause was trauma.

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He said: "There was no sign of any previous old injury. Everything on the scan fitted with a traumatic event which she was presumed to have had earlier that day."

Referring to Lily's previous blackout a few days before her death, he said: "I don't think the convulsions as described are indicative of any neurological abnormality."

Recording a conclusion of accidental death, coroner John Tomalin spoke of his "full admiration" for her family who chose to donate her organs at such a tragic time, and described it as "such a selfless act of kindness".

He confirmed there was no evidence to link Lily's head injuries before December 6, with her death, but that the exact cause of the injury on that day was uncertain.

He said: "We were told Lily had collided with another player but we have no eye witnesses who saw her suffer a head injury. But the balance of probabilities, taking into account the evidence presented, indicates Lily did suffer some form of injury to her head that day.

"What that was specifically, I don't think we can say, but that injury is most likely to have led to the bleed on the brain which was detected on the CT scan and in turn led to her death."

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Lily Partridge's memorial rugby match at Topsham Rugby Club

Lily, who was born in Plymouth, had been a regular player for Exonian Ladies for the past 18 months before her death, having been a founder member. She played in the front row and her ambition was to play hooker for Devon by the time she was 25.

The legacy of the young zookeeper has lived on. Lily was an organ donor and helped save the lives of three young adults and a middle aged person.

Her family has raised more than 30,000 which has been distributed between some of Lily's favourite causes, including Shaldon Wildlife Trust charity in south Devon where she worked, and Doddiscombsleigh Primary School where she had just started working part-time as a teaching assistant. It has also funded a defibrillator at Beer on the beach, Lily's favourite beach, and negotiations are under way where to place others locally.

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Parents of tragic Lily Partridge urge all players to have brain scans if they suffer head injuries - Devon Live