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Hillsborough inquests: Schoolboy 'begged' police for help in crush | Hillsborough inquests: Schoolboy 'begged' police for help in crush |
(about 2 hours later) | |
The best friend of a schoolboy who died after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster has described "trying to beg" a police officer for help after the crush began. | The best friend of a schoolboy who died after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster has described "trying to beg" a police officer for help after the crush began. |
The inquests have been hearing about the death of 14-year-old Lee Nicol. | |
Austin Grimmant, a fellow Liverpool fan who was standing next to him, told the jury he thought a police officer found that Lee was breathing when he checked him on the Leppings Lane terrace. | Austin Grimmant, a fellow Liverpool fan who was standing next to him, told the jury he thought a police officer found that Lee was breathing when he checked him on the Leppings Lane terrace. |
Lee, who died two days later, was one of 96 people to suffer fatal injuries. | Lee, who died two days later, was one of 96 people to suffer fatal injuries. |
They were caught in a crush on the terraces at the Liverpool v Nottingham Forest FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield on 15 April 1989. | |
The jury heard how Lee arrived on the terraces between 13:00 and 13:30 BST, ahead of the 15:00 kick-off. | |
He and Mr Grimmant, then a schoolboy, were in the front corner of pen three, next to a fence that separated it from pen two. | |
Mr Grimmant said after players came on the pitch to warm up, there was a surge in the crowd. | |
"It pushed us against the fence, it kind of went on longer than you would like," he said. | |
'Seriously wrong' | |
Mr Grimmant said Lee then moved back on to a step behind him and was turned side-on in the pen. | Mr Grimmant said Lee then moved back on to a step behind him and was turned side-on in the pen. |
Speaking through tears, the witness described how Lee was pushed into his chest by a much stronger surge. | Speaking through tears, the witness described how Lee was pushed into his chest by a much stronger surge. |
He said Lee told him he was struggling to breathe while a man behind him was screaming. | He said Lee told him he was struggling to breathe while a man behind him was screaming. |
Mr Grimmant said as soon as the second surge came and Lee became distressed, he tried to get the attention of a police officer on the pitch side. | |
"I was basically trying to beg him to do something because you knew something was seriously wrong. | "I was basically trying to beg him to do something because you knew something was seriously wrong. |
"He just told people to move back." | "He just told people to move back." |
Mr Grimmant said he lost sight of Lee. | |
He said Lee was wriggling on the floor but stopped moving and other fans were being pushed around him in the crush. | He said Lee was wriggling on the floor but stopped moving and other fans were being pushed around him in the crush. |
Who were the 96 victims? | |
BBC News: Profiles of all those who died | |
Another friend of Lee's, Alan Trees, was also in pen three. He told the jury he saw "quite a big man on top of Lee" who was "distressed" and "trying to get out himself but was, sort of, directly on top of Lee". | |
Mr Grimmant was helped into pen two and said from there he saw Lee was "crouched on the floor". | Mr Grimmant was helped into pen two and said from there he saw Lee was "crouched on the floor". |
He added: "Everybody was talking about him, saying 'we have just got to get to this boy'." | He added: "Everybody was talking about him, saying 'we have just got to get to this boy'." |
He told the court he remembered a police officer was able to find Lee was breathing by reaching through the fence separating the pens. | |
At 15:11, five minutes after the match was stopped, supporters passed Lee over the fence to police officers in pen two. | At 15:11, five minutes after the match was stopped, supporters passed Lee over the fence to police officers in pen two. |
Keith Marsh, a constable on duty at the match, helped carry Lee. He and a colleague took him away from the Leppings Lane end and placed him on the side of the pitch, near the South Stand. | Keith Marsh, a constable on duty at the match, helped carry Lee. He and a colleague took him away from the Leppings Lane end and placed him on the side of the pitch, near the South Stand. |
Mr Marsh said Lee "seemed unconscious" and "quite obviously he was in need of medical treatment". | Mr Marsh said Lee "seemed unconscious" and "quite obviously he was in need of medical treatment". |
He and a colleague began trying to resuscitate him and at one point believed Lee "responded to the resuscitation" and was "possibly alive". | |
'No brain-stem activity' | |
Dr Michael Hutson, an off-duty doctor who went to the match with his family, also tried to resuscitate Lee. | Dr Michael Hutson, an off-duty doctor who went to the match with his family, also tried to resuscitate Lee. |
He said the boy had "no spontaneous breathing" and "no pulse". | |
The jury also saw footage of Lee being wheeled on a stretcher across the pitch towards an ambulance. | |
Lee was the first casualty from the disaster to arrive at the Northern General Hospital, in Sheffield. | |
Medics were able to shock his heart into a normal rhythm and he was "quite stable" when he was transferred to the intensive treatment unit (ITU), although he was not breathing on his own, the court heard. | |
However, he showed "no signs of brain activity" on the day after the match and some of the systems in his body began to fail. | |
Dr Terrence Appleyard, the ITU consultant, said Lee was confirmed as being "brain-stem dead" on 17 April. | |
Lee carried an organ donor card and his kidneys and heart valves were donated. | |
His mother, Patricia Donnelly, travelled to Sheffield on the evening of the disaster and saw her son on a life support machine at the hospital. | |
She thanked Mr Grimmant and Mr Trees, as well as Mr Marsh and the medics who tried to help Lee, via her barrister Fiona Murphy. | |
The inquests in Warrington, Cheshire, are due to resume on Thursday. |