A police officer died after being hit by a train while helping a distressed man near a railway line, an inquest has heard.
Sgt Graham Saville, 46, who worked for Nottinghamshire Police, was fatally injured on the line in Balderton, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, on August 24 2023.
Area coroner Laurinda Bower told the first day of his inquest: “It is incredibly sad that Graham went to work as a public servant and did not return home.”
Members of Sgt Saville’s family attended the hearing at Nottingham Coroner’s Court on Monday where area coroner Laurinda Bower said the officer initially survived the impact but had his life support withdrawn five days later.
The court heard that a post-mortem examination found his cause of death to be “multiple injuries”.
The inquest heard a call was made to the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) on the evening of August 24 from a distressed man, who was referred to in court as Patient C, 21 minutes before a call was made about Sgt Saville’s injuries.
The coroner said: “Patient C advised he was not feeling violent and did not have a weapon.
“He then advised the dispatcher that police were there. Patient C advised he was near the railway line but not on it.”
The court heard that Patient C’s call with EMAS ended at 7.05pm, but the control room received another call four minutes later.
Ms Bower told the court that the dispatcher was told that Sgt Saville had sustained injuries to his left leg and arm and his observations were “indicative of pain or shock, or in this case severe blood loss”.
The inquest heard a tourniquet was applied to Sgt Saville’s leg and arm at the scene before paramedics took him to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Ms Bower read a statement from intensive care consultant Dr Dan Harvey, who said that a CT scan showed swelling on Sgt Saville’s brain after he started deteriorating in the early hours of August 29.
Ms Bower said: “They confirmed there were no surgical options available at that time. This was tragically an unsurvivable event.”
After a discussion with his family, Sgt Saville’s life support was withdrawn and he was pronounced dead at 4.55pm that day, the coroner told the inquest.
The inquest, which is expected to last two weeks, was adjourned and resumes on Tuesday.
