A young rugby player collapsed and died after a “minor” collision with an opponent during a practice match, the woman’s parents have said.
Lily Partridge, 22, complained of a headache and walked off the pitch but went into cardiac arrest and did not regain consciousness. A scan revealed that she had a blood clot between the brain and the skull.
An inquest found Partridge’s death had been an accident. After the hearing, her parents, Jeff and Liz, revealed that she had previous concussions and called for rugby players who sustained head injuries to routinely receive brain scans.
They said: “Lily loved playing rugby and her dream was to represent Devon. She was the victim of a tragic accident. No one is to blame for what happened to her.
“Rugby is a hard game and Lily took all the precautions to protect herself when playing. She had suffered a couple of concussions earlier in the year but had seen her GP and had followed the RFU protocols in taking time off not playing.
“A brain scan may have spotted any weakness caused by those head injuries. If we had known that her life may be in danger by playing rugby again, obviously she would have stopped immediately.
“Lily wore all the right gear when she played – the scrum-cap, mouth guard and so on – but that wasn’t enough to save her. In her final match she felt dizzy and came off the pitch feeling unwell after a minor contact with another player. But she collapsed on the sidelines and never recovered.
“We would like to see all players at every level of the game – male, female, young or old – receive proper medical treatment for head injuries which would include scans. There are many thousands of girls and women playing rugby and Lily, like us, wants that to continue.”
Their daughter, who worked as a zoo keeper, was a founder member of the Exonian Ladies team based at Topsham RFC.
The captain Katie Lunnon witnessed the collapse of her teammate and friend in December 2015 – although no one saw the collision with the opponent.
Lunnon told the inquest that they ended the training session with a seven-a-side mini-rugby game where there was tackling but uncontested scrums.
She said: “I did see Lily involved in tackles but she didn’t appear to have any after effects at that time. However a couple of minutes later she was preparing to be part of an uncontested scrum, then I saw her walking towards the touchline and come off the pitch.
“I went over to see if Lily was OK. She said that she had a bit of a headache. I didn’t really think anything of it as it was very cold and we were soaked through. Lily was kneeling down for a bit and then she said she felt sick and was leaning forward on all fours.
“She looked as if she was in pain. I was trying to talk to her. I was trying to get her to lean back and open up a bit.”
Partridge then lost consciousness and first aid trained coaches started to give her CPR.
Consultant radiologist Dr Michael Thomas told the hearing that the 22-year-old died from an acute bleed as a result of a trauma. He said the two previous concussions were not connected to her death and a scan showed the blood clot and bleed had occurred just hours before.
Dr Rebecca Appelboam, a consultant in intensive care at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital, said Partridge was flown by air ambulance after a heart attack. She said: “The scan of her head demonstrated a blood clot between the brain and the skull.”
Lawyer Stephanie Wilson, representing the Rugby Football Union and Topsham RFC, said: “Before Miss Partridge joined the scrum she mentioned to the referee that she had a headache.
“The referee asked if she was OK and if she had hit her head and Miss Partridge said that she was fine and she had knocked her head earlier … No one witnessed Miss Partridge sustaining a knock to her head during the day.”
An RFU spokesperson said: “The RFU would like to express its deepest sympathies to Lily’s family, friends and team mates in what was a tragic accident.
“While the inquest said that there was no evidence that the death was related to any previous head injury, rugby has clear guidelines regarding managing concussion which we recommend that players follow.
“The NHS has its own evidence-based guidelines on scanning after a head injury. With respect to returning to play after a concussion, the RFU’s guidelines are in line with both NHS and international guidance.”
