A "truly remarkable" dad passed away in his friend's arm after being run over by a tractor's trailer trying to overtake on a country road.
Antony David Stevens was enjoying a motorcycling holiday with a group of pals when he and Peter Calvert travelled to Bentham from Slaidburn near Clitheroe on September 3 last year.
During the journey, the pair got stuck behind a tractor pulling a baler, with the 59-year-old choosing to try and overtake at 12.30pm, Lancs Live reports.
The manoeuvre took his companion by "total surprise" as he watched in horror as the bike slide from under him.
Thomas Robinson, who was driving the tractor, witnessed Stevens fall towards the baler which then lifted up before crashing back down again, which he knew meant "only one thing... the motorcycle rider had been run over by the wheel".
An inquest at Preston Coroner's Court on January 31 heard that Stevens, a taxi driver from St Ives, quickly deteriorated and died in his friend's arms as he tried desperately to save him.
Reading from a statement by Calvert Area Coroner Chris Long said: "He met Antony in St Ives in Cornwall. Antony had a passion for motorcycles similar to himself. He says 'we would try and take a ride out at least once a month. We had planned a trip to Germany but this was put on hold due to Covid so we planned a trip in the UK instead'."
"Antony and I set off ahead of the others, we met a road diversion, we ended up going through the road closure," Calvert said in his statement.
"'In the distance I saw a tractor towing a trailer it looked like it had come out of a field. I was now ahead of Antony. We continued until we reached the tractor and there was no way of passing.
"There was no real line of sight so all I could do was position further back and follow. I remember thinking the tractor driver probably couldn't see or hear us because of the baler. We followed for half a mile, I thought it would pull in soon; what Antony did next took me by total surprise.
"If I'd seen it sooner I'd have pulled my hand up to stop him. I'd describe it as highly dangerous and the risks were clear. I could see the road remained narrow. Antony went for the overtake, I couldn't believe this because he didn't have enough room to pass safely, he got alongside but I could see there was only 2/3 feet of road.
"The front wheel of his motorcycle dropped off the verge, this caused the bike to wobble and he fell off between the rear tractor wheel and the wheel of the baler. I saw the wheel go straight over him. It all happened so quickly.
"The driver must have realised because he stopped straightaway. Antony was rolling around in the road saying 'I can't breathe'. He was in a state of panic and distress. He said he was really hot. The tractor driver got a knife to cut his t-shirt, he appeared to deteriorate very quickly and became motionless.
"Another person arrived. Antony died at the scene in front of me."
A post mortem CT scan revealed Mr Stevens had extensive traumatic injuries the most serious of which included thoracic rib fractures, a right haemothorax, abdominal injuries and multiple fractures. The cause of death was given as traumatic chest injury.
Reading from a statement by Mr Stevens' daughter, Megan Phillips, the coroner said: "He was born in St Ives, he was a popular boy... his passion for sport grew and he became captain of the rugby and football teams.
"After leaving school he worked for the family printing business and met Gillian, and they were blessed with Megan in 1989.
"He became a full-time taxi driver and rekindled a friendship with Sally and that blossomed into a beautiful relationship; she was his soul-mate."
In a statement to police the tractor driver Thomas Robinson said he drove along the road, known as the Skaithe, at least twice daily.
"I didn't hear any vehicles behind me," Robinson said.
"I heard a noise from outside it sounded like a large cracking noise. I looked over my right shoulder and in that glance I saw a cyclist and he was leaning against the body of the baler. The scraping noise was the motorcycle scraping on the road.
"What was happening was the rider falling towards the baler and the motorcycle going in the opposite direction. I immediately performed an emergency stop.
"I felt the baler go up in the air then land back on the road with a bang. It only meant one thing to me. The motorcycle rider had been run over by the wheel."
The inquest heard there were no mechanical defects with either the motorbike or the tractor. Mr Robinson was below the legal limit for drugs and alcohol and examination of his phone found he had not been using it at the time of the collision.
Concluding Mr Stevens' death was the result of a road traffic collision the coroner said: "Mr Stevens was riding his motorcycle when he fell from it when he attempted to overtake a tractor. Mr Stevens has fallen in a position where sadly he was thrown into the path of the wheel of the trailer and that caused traumatic chest injuries which led to his death."
A video posted on Facebook after Mr Stevens' funeral showed hundreds of people lining the streets of St Ives and outside the church clapping as the hearse passed through the Cornish town on September 20 last year.
Rachel Weeks commented on the video: "To your family Antony, you truly were a remarkable Cornish man, always found time for others, a true, true gentleman. I am so saddened to hear that this world has lost such a precious human being, one of a kind."
