Nurse who died after she was hit by May Day parade costume horse ‘may have passed away from fight injury’

Paediatric nurse may have been hit in the head when trying to intervene in an argument, senior coroner says

Laura Smallwood died in 2019 (Facebook)

A woman injured during a traditional May Day parade in Cornwall may have actually died from an earlier ‘scuffle’, an inquest has heard.

Laura Smallwood sustained a neck injury and fell unconscious while at the Obby Oss festival - held each year to mark the arrival of summer - in Padstow in 2019.

The 34-year-old paediatric nurse died in hospital three days later.

An inquest on Thursday heard how she fell unconscious after being hit by a horse costume - a large wooden circle worn by a male dancer - during the parade.

While the incident may have caused Ms Smallwood’s death, she may also have been hit in the head during a ‘scuffle’ with another woman earlier in the day, senior coroner Andrew Cox said.

The nurse tried to intervene in an argument at around 6.15 pm on the day of the parade, the inquest heard.

A woman involved in a row with her boyfriend and another boy then pushed Ms Smallwood, the coroner was told.

One witness described hearing a “wallop” or a “slap” and remembered seeing the 34-year-old’s sunglasses fly off her head and into the road.

Kirsten Norfolk, a local priest, said she remembered seeing a mark on her friend Mrs Smallwood’s forehead afterwards - but said she “seemed fine” and “laughed it off”.

Another witness, Sian Howells, told the court she saw the hobby horse - known as the Obby Oss - make a “significant impact” with the back of the 34-year-old’s neck around an hour later when its carrier fell.

Minutes later, Mrs Smallwood complained she was “dizzy” before the right side of her face began “drooping”, her breathing became “laboured”, and she turned “really white or blue” and lost consciousness.

A woman began CPR before paramedics arrived, the inquest heard.

Oliver Smallwood told the inquest he accompanied his wife by air ambulance to hospital, where he was first told the situation was “positive” because medics could not find any damage, although they were unsure of why she was deeply unconscious.

The cause of her death was made even more mysterious by a medical report which asked whether an existing injury, from days or weeks before, could have been to blame, the inquest was told.

Ms Smallwood died at Derriford Hospital on 4 May 2019.

The inquest continues.

Additional reporting by Press Association