Girl (2) died of catastrophic injuries caused by swinging gate hit by horse, inquest hears

A two-year-old Dublin girl died from catastrophic injuries sustained when she was struck by a swinging gate in an incident involving a horse, an inquest has heard.

Lillie Weldon, of Rush, Co Dublin, suffered the injuries at her home when the horse hit the gate, causing it to swing open and knock the girl unconscious.

A postmortem found she died at Temple Street Hospital from complex polytrauma – including catastrophic injuries to her chest and abdomen – following the incident on October 26th, 2022.

Coroner Aisling Gannon recorded a verdict of accidental death at a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Thursday. The deceased girl’s family were not in attendance.

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The coroner’s court heard that Derek Weldon and his partner, Ellen, were too traumatised by the death of their daughter to attend the hearing on Thursday.

On the date in question, Lillie Weldon was at home with her father, according to a statement he provided to the court.

Mr Weldon kept horses as a hobby, the court heard, and maintained stables and a paddock at his residence. At the time of the incident, Mr Weldon was looking after a friend’s horse, a four-year-old gelding.

At about 5.30pm, Mr Weldon and his daughter were in a yard at the back of the residence, which was separated from the paddock by a galvanised gate. They were tending to her Shetland pony, the court heard.

Without warning, Mr Weldon’s friend’s horse – which was in the paddock – bolted in the direction of the gate, close to where the girl was. The horse hit the gate, which swung open and struck Lillie Weldon, knocking her to the ground.

Mr Weldon rang 999, the court heard, but was informed there were no ambulances available and he was instead advised to travel to Swords Fire Station. After reaching the fire station, the girl was transferred via ambulance to Temple Street Hospital. She arrived there at about 6.30pm.

According to a statement provided to the court by Rasha Sawaya, a consultant in paediatric medicine at Temple Street, continued resuscitation efforts on the girl were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the hospital’s emergency department at 7.15pm. She had suffered a traumatic cardiac arrest, Dr Sawaya said.

Sgt John Cannon, of Lusk Garda station, told the coroner he was satisfied with the investigation into what appeared to have been “a tragic accident”.

He told the court the couple are expecting a child later this month.

Ms Gannon, noting that the death arose from a “sudden and unexpected” incident, recorded a verdict of accidental death. She asked Sgt Cannon to convey the sincere sympathies of the court to the bereaved family.

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