FREAK DEATH
Tree surgeon bled to death at work after accidentally severing his jugular artery with his own chainsaw
Alexander Kirkley, 32, was killed when the chainsaw kicked-back – hitting him in the neck and slicing his blood vessels
A TREE surgeon bled to death after accidentally slitting his throat and severing his jugular artery with his chainsaw while at work, an inquest heard today.
Alexander Kirkley, 32, was killed when the chainsaw “kicked-back” – hitting him in the neck and slicing through his blood vessels – while he was cutting a tree in the back garden of a house in Oxfordshire.
By the time he had been lowered from the tree 20 feet to the ground, he had stopped breathing and was in cardiac arrest, the inquest jury heard.
Despite the best efforts of medics to save him, he was pronounced dead at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford two hours later.
Mr Kirkley had spent the past three years working as an arborist in New Zealand, where he had hoped to establish a self-sufficient eco-village, but had returned to the UK a few weeks before his death on February 16 to see family and friends.
A post-mortem examination carried out by pathologist Dr Lucie Winter at the John Radcliffe four days after his death gave the cause as blood loss.
Reading from Dr Winter’s statement, Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter said: “The cause of death was exsanguination due to the loss of blood through the severing of arteries in the neck.
“Injuries relating to the death were caused by hypovelemic shock due to the blood loss from the neck.
“Although attempts were made to revive him, in my opinion the injuries were not survivable,” the pathologist stated.
