THE BOYFRIEND of an aerial artiste fought back tears yesterday as he told of watching her fall to her death in an accident involving bungee ropes while rehearsing a carnival act.
Jonathan “Joe” Hull told how Emma Insley (30) fell 15 metres to the ground before, a split second later, a giant 200kg steel globe held aloft by a crane fell on top of her.
An inquest in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, heard how Welsh-born Ms Insley, who had been living in Clarence Place, London, had been rehearsing a new act.
In the act – in which she portrayed Mother Earth – she would emerge from within the globe and bounce on bungee ropes beneath it.
Ms Insley was part of the Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre group preparing for a week of performances at the Blue Stacks festival in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, last October.
The company was in the second day of two weeks of rehearsals on August 21st in a yard attached to a crane company a Lurgybrack, Letterkenny.
Coroner Seán Cannon and a jury were told yesterday how the globe was attached to a crane which was to raise it to a height of 40 metres with Ms Insley harnessed beneath it as she tested the bungee ropes.
Mr Hull, Ms Insley’s boyfriend of 12 years and also a rigger on the show, said that after three or four bounces, she started to fall and the globe fell on to her.
Chantal McCormick, co-owner of the British-based company with her husband Jym Daly, said the first she realised anything was amiss was when she suddenly heard a scream.
“Emma was on the ground and half her body was on Joe’s lap. The globe was on the ground and Joe was screaming.”
Ms McCormick, a native of Ballybofey, Co Donegal, explained how the whole show was done outdoors in the air with the audience watching from beneath.
Crane operator Gerry Duffy said he had raised Ms Insley to about 15 metres when he suddenly saw her fall to the ground and land on her backside as the globe fell on top of her.
Health and Safety Authority inspector William Gaffney said an examination of the equipment revealed that a twisting steel rope rising from the globe had slipped from a swivel hook linking it to the crane cable.
“The twisting of the rope caused it to separate from the hook,” Mr Gaffney said. “It would have happened immediately and without warning.”
He said it would have been expected that the weight of the globe would have kept the rope rigid but it didn’t. “There was no problem with any of the equipment. The weak point was the connection.”
An order prohibiting use of the apparatus was served on Ms McCormick after the accident.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death caused by head and lung injuries.The jurors added a rider recommending that a locking mechanism should be fitted in future to similar hooks.
Mr Cannon said: “It is unfortunate that we have to learn from such tragic experiences.”