Woman killed 'without warning' by falling rock on Welsh beach
|
Version 0 of 1. A young woman was killed by a falling rock as she drank sparkling wine on a beach with her best friend to celebrate the end of their exams. Georgina Le’Fjord, 23, had gone for a picnic close to cliffs at Llantwit Major, south Wales, with Martha Ormerod, 25, when the accident happened. Ormerod said: “I heard a noise behind me that sounded like rocks falling and I saw some begin to fall from the cliff face. I immediately turned round and saw Georgie lying on her front with her arms in front of her I called out her name and started to turn her over. “I noticed that the side of her head was smashed and she had bitten her tongue. I was shocked by the sight of her.” Ormerod told an inquest in Cardiff: “Myself and Georgie arranged to meet up to do something together because we had both finished our exams. I suggested that we take my dog Buster down to the beach. We bought some baguettes, cheese and a bottle of prosecco. “I let my dog off the lead and we sat on two rocks which were flat and close together so we could talk to each other. It was a windy day so we picked a pair of rocks that were a bit more sheltered.” The rock fell around 6 metres (20ft) on to the spot where they were picnicking, around 4.5 metres (15ft) from the foot of the cliffs. Ormerod and half a dozen onlookers tried to resuscitate her, but she could not be saved. Claire Hodson said: “I was looking for fossils with my brother Johnathan when we saw the rocks fall. After hearing Martha call out I ran over to help.” “I called 999 and took Martha away to a nearby cafe. She went into shock and she was just staring at the blood covering her body and hands.” The inquest heard how Le’Fjord and Ormerod had become close friends after bonding over their shared interest in engineering. Le’Fjord – also known as Georgie Ford – grew up in Salisbury, Wiltshire, but left to travel abroad with her boyfriend Paul Briggs before the pair moved to Llantwit Major. Briggs enrolled at Cardiff University and Le’Fjord was hoping to start a computer sciences degree there. She was celebrating finishing her maths A-level exam when she died. Her mother, Jacqueline Cleary, said: “She was at her happiest in the last couple of months before she died. Her life was just starting to come around.” The assistant coroner Thomas Atherton said her death in June was “a tragic occurrence without any warning”. He said: “Georgina was sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time on an otherwise normal day at the beach.” The coroner reached a conclusion of accidental death. |