A Canadian tourist died after he was thrown from his mountainbike while riding downhill on the Haast Pass, a coroner has found.
James (Jim) Redmond Whittle (63) landed on his head and broke his neck on November 21 in 2017, Robin Kay said. His report into the single bicycle accident on State Highway 6 was released on July 26 this year.
Mr Whittle was the programme coordinator of the Paramedic Program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, where he had taught for 34 years.
His interests included climbing, hiking and kayaking.
Mr Whittle was touring New Zealand with Flying Kiwi Adventure Tours.
‘‘Jim’s death was the result of an accident, that sadly had a tragic and fatal result,’’ Mr Kay said.
The coroner did not think there were any comments or recommendations that could usefully be made, nor would it serve public interest to have Mr Whittle’s death looked at by some other investigative body.
On November 21, the guided tour group of 20 was heading from the Blue Pools at Makarora towards Haast on the West Coast.
Mr Whittle was in a group of five more confident riders who decided to descend from the the Haast Pass to Thunder Creek. They were wearing helmets and high visibility vests.
As they approached the Gates of Haast bridge, Mr Whittle was leading and pulling away before being thrown from his bike.
After the accident, Mr Whittle was unresponsive and fellow cyclist Stephen Moseley rode on to Thunder Falls to alert tour leader Thomas Judd.
Mr Judd took another tour group member, a Welsh emergency doctor Melissa Benn, to the scene.
Dr Benn and two other cyclists attempted resuscitation for up to 40 minutes before an ambulance arrived with a defibrillator. Resuscitation attempts continued until it was agreed this was futile.
A Police Serious Crash Investigation Unit report estimated that Mr Whittle’s speed was between 33kmh and 44kmh.
The police report concluded Mr Whittle’s wheels moved onto gravel and he was too close to a rock wall to be able to steer away from it.
The bike went into a drainage channel, the left handlebar was caught by vegetation on the rock face, and Mr Whittle was thrown over the handlebars, the police report said.
Mr Kay said it was possible Mr Whittle could have been distracted by the striking scenery.
He accepted pathologist Dr Martin Sage’s opinion that Mr Whittle’s death was caused by a mid-cervical spinal traumatic fracture with spinal cord crush.
The crash was not caused by alcohol or drugs or any medical condition, nor by the condition of his mountain bike or any environmental factors.
No other party caused or contributed to the crash, he said.
Mr Kay prohibited the publication of photographs of Mr Whittle.
- By Marjorie Cook
