Hello Friends!
Like most loving parents, Chris and Kathy Coker were anxious when their son Bradley embarked on his gap-year trip around the world.
Even though they knew he was sensible, it was hard not to worry about what could go wrong.
And so, the Cokers recall, they breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that Bradley and his girlfriend Hayley Denham had moved on from the often unstable Far East and arrived in New Zealand.
‘We thought of it as a safe, slow place,’ says Chris. ‘Both Kathy and I relaxed.’
But their relief was short-lived. Just days later, they received a grim early-morning knock on the door that plunged them into a nightmare.
Like most loving parents, Chris and Kathy Coker were anxious when their son Bradley embarked on his gap-year trip around the world.
Even though they knew he was sensible, it was hard not to worry about what could go wrong.
And so, the Cokers recall, they breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that Bradley and his girlfriend Hayley Denham had moved on from the often unstable Far East and arrived in New Zealand.
‘We thought of it as a safe, slow place,’ says Chris. ‘Both Kathy and I relaxed.’
But their relief was short-lived. Just days later, they received a grim early-morning knock on the door that plunged them into a nightmare.
Gap year adventurers: Bradley and Hayley in Fiji in August 2010, just weeks before he was killed
Anxiety: Bradley's parents were relieved when he reached 'safe' New Zealand
Their 24-year-old son had been killed in a plane crash as he waited to skydive on New Zealand’s South Island. Bradley died instantly along with three other tourists, four crew and the pilot when their aircraft plummeted to earth and exploded in a fireball moments after take-off.
The horrific incident made headlines worldwide and sent a shiver down the spine of many parents who had waved their own children off on round-the-world adventures.
For the Cokers, of course, it was an entirely personal tragedy which, at first, they could barely digest. ‘It’s like a grenade has been flung into your home, ripping the heart out of it,’ says Chris.
Then came another blow: in the days immediately following the crash, UK police made them aware of mounting evidence that what they’d assumed had been a tragic accident could have been avoided if basic checks had been done by SkyDive NZ, who owned the plane and organised dozens of expeditions for young tourists every month.
Last week, those suspicions were confirmed with the release of an official report which revealed that the plane was, in effect, an accident waiting to happen.
Overweight and unbalanced, the aircraft, a 30-year-old Fletcher FU24, struggled to take off safely and was unable to maintain proper momentum in the air.
Equally horrifying, the family learned that two of the tandem skydivers responsible for safety on board — the experienced parachutists to whom novice jumpers are strapped — had been smoking cannabis in the hours before the flight.
The plane itself was a converted crop-duster that had undertaken 78 flights with no proper safety checks. Aviation officials had failed to examine extensive modifications that had added to its weight and it took off with occupants sitting in the wrong place and not wearing safety belts.
This apparently lackadaisical approach to safety will terrify many parents who believe adventure companies go to great lengths to protect their customers — and Bradley’s family have discovered they have no effective redress against those responsible.
After closing for two weeks following the accident, SkyDive NZ was back in business.
Horribly damning, the report has been the cause of much additional pain for an already devastated family. ‘It makes clear that Bradley’s death and that of others on board was needless and reckless and could have been prevented,’ says 59-year-old Chris, who runs an exhibition company.
‘Yet in New Zealand the laws are completely different — there is no offence of corporate manslaughter, and you cannot sue for negligence including wrongful death, making it very hard to hold anyone to account.’
To date no one has been prosecuted and it seems unlikely that anyone will be. ‘It would be down to the New Zealand government but while I’ve written to the prime minister, John Key, so far no charges have been brought,’ says Chris.
The 30-year-old Fletcher FU24 struggled to take off safely and was unable to maintain proper momentum in the air
Unfortunately, Bradley is far from the only youngster to lose his life on what should have been a character-building gap year. Last June, three 19-year-old friends — Bruno Melling-Firth, Conrad Quashie and Max Boomgaarden-Cook — were killed in northern Thailand when their coach collided with another bus.
Two years before three more young friends, 18-year-olds Oliver Mobsby and Ed Lowton, and Nick Thompson, 19, died when their car ploughed head-on into another in South Africa.
Crashes aren’t the only danger. In 2010, 23-year-old Katrina Jacks died from altitude sickness while hiking near Lake Titicaca, 3,810m (12,500ft) above sea level.
Two years before, 19-year-old Ian Jackson, had fallen to his death in the Alps during a gap-year climbing trip.
Of course, Chris and his wife knew the risks when they waved their youngest son off on his travels in February 2010.
Kathy, now 62, had given up her job as a secretary to raise their three children — Bradley, Elizabeth, 31, and Ashley, 30, in Farnborough.
‘I know it’s always tempting to eulogise people who aren’t with us any more, but Bradley was a real character,’ says Chris.
‘His brother and sister were more academic, but Bradley was more sporty and creative.
He was a fantastic guitar player and a real performer, always making us laugh with his impressions.’
'As he got older, he became interested in business.
‘He set up a dating website, and he even sold cookies online,’ says his father. ‘Everything was a potential business opportunity for Bradley — he just had that kind of mind. Given how young he was, he made a fair amount of money.’
Aged 5 months: Dad Chris says Bradley was 'a real character'
Performer: Bradley was sporty and creative; a born entertainer and a talented guitarist
Budding businessman: Bradley set up his own dating agency and sold cookies online to pay for his trip
Most of his earnings were set aside for the longed-for trip around the world with his girlfriend of four years, Hayley.
‘He was always a keen traveller and making a big trip was something we’d discussed,’ she says. ‘We planned and saved for it for two years.’
The ten-month trip would start in Paris in February 2010, and end mid-December, when the couple would fly home from South America in time for a family Christmas.
Like any parents, the Cokers admit they had reservations. ‘But you can’t wrap your kids in cotton wool,’ says Kathy. ‘And it was something he really wanted to do.’
The entire family drove to Heathrow airport to bid him farewell. And, in the months that followed, Bradley and Hayley kept in regular touch via a detailed blog full of
‘They were obviously having the time of their lives.’
‘Reading it was like watching a film,’ says Chris.
‘They were obviously having the time of their lives.’
At the end of August, six months into their trip, the young couple arrived in New Zealand. Back home, Chris and Kathy were relieved that Bradley and Hayley had safely navigated more unstable regimes like Cambodia and Thailand and arrived in the safety of a Commonwealth country.
Despite that, his mother recalls feeling an anxiety she could not shake off.
‘I had this very strong sense of wanting to speak to Brad around that time. Now I wonder if it was a sixth sense that something was wrong.’
Hayley and Bradley, of course, had no such misgivings: both had been bowled over by the scenery of New Zealand.
And it was that beauty, Hayley says, that prompted Bradley, in a moment of spontaneous enthusiasm, to sign up for a skydive. He had done one just once before, back in the UK.
She recalls: ‘We were heading for a place called Franz Josef, which was situated on a glacier and in a particularly beautiful spot.
‘We’d woken that morning to a lovely day and he said: “When am I going to get the opportunity to skydive over a glacier again?” So he signed up.
Final weeks: The couple in Auckland, two weeks before the accident
Vietnam: Bradley's parents feared for his safety while he travelled through Asia, but were convinced he'd be safe in New Zealand
‘I’d already done a dive a week earlier so opted out and said I would see him back at the hostel we’d booked into. The last time I saw him, he was jumping up to the window of the bus, being silly. He blew me a kiss and I blew him one back.’
Bradley was never to return to the hostel. Instead, less than two hours later, a medic knocked on Hayley’s door. ‘I knew right away something was wrong,’ she says.
‘My heart lurched into my stomach.’
What happened next unfolded in a blur: Bradley was dead, killed alongside the pilot, three other tourists and their tandem partners in a fireball that had engulfed the aircraft shortly after take off when it nosedived 400ft to the ground.
‘I couldn’t believe that the man I had kissed just a short while earlier was now dead. It was the worst moment of my life,’ says Hayley.
As a bewildered Hayley struggled to digest the news, back in Farnborough, the Cokers awoke to a banging at the door around 5am.
‘I couldn’t believe that the man I had kissed just a short while earlier was now dead. It was the worst moment of my life'
Chris recalls: ‘Two police officers said they were very sorry, but Bradley had been killed in a plane crash. You think: “It can’t be true, it doesn’t make sense.”’
The Cokers initially took comfort from the fact Bradley seemed to have been the victim of a cruel but random twist of fate.
Then, six days after he died, they learned the New Zealand authorities had issued a directive ordering that any similar plane should carry no more than six passengers, as opposed to the eight on board when Bradley died.
‘I felt physically sick,’ says Kathy. ‘Because in that moment what happened went from an accident to something that could potentially have been prevented.’
This has now been confirmed by the official report by New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission, whose findings make grim reading.
The plane, a converted crop-sprayer bought by SkyDive NZ just three months before it crashed, had undertaken 78 flights with no proper safety checks. The flight manual — akin to a car logbook, and containing vital details such as the load it could carry — had not been updated.
The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, meanwhile, had certified the aircraft’s new usage without inspecting it. Eyewitness accounts report that the plane took off almost vertically, such was the weight in the back.
‘No one was strapped in and people were sitting in the wrong place, meaning the plane could not execute a proper take-off,’ says Chris. ‘It didn’t stand a chance.’
Two of the tandem skydivers had been smoking cannabis prior to boarding the flight. ‘We were stunned to read that. They were directly responsible for somebody’s life. It was a dereliction of duty.’
In love: Bradley and Hayley pose at a hot spring in Taupo a short time before his doomed skydive
Anger: Bradley's parents want New Zealand to tighten regulations for providers of outdoor adventure sports
These findings are grim enough, but as the Cokers struggled to digest the realisation that their son’s death could have been avoided, they learned they couldn’t properly pursue the company responsible.
‘While there’s an inquest later this year, it’s unlikely any criminal charges will be brought,’ says Chris.
‘Fundamentally, there is no real sanction for companies there, as there is no offence of capital manslaughter, and you can’t sue for wrongful death or negligence. So where is the incentive for companies to behave properly?’
And with one sole accident insurance provider across the country — one who pays out on a no-fault basis — the Cokers received just £2,744 in compensation, the maximum allowed under New Zealand law.
‘That sum was in exchange for my son’s life and didn’t even cover the cost of bringing his body home,’ says Chris.
‘No amount of money will bring Bradley back, but it represented to us the utter lack of regard for the magnitude of what we have gone through as a family.’
The Cokers have now written to John Key, New Zealand’s prime minister, urging him to tighten regulations for providers of outdoor adventure sports, and in the meantime hope to highlight the risks to other parents.
‘In that way we can feel that Bradley’s death has not been in vain,’ says Kathy.
All the same, they have struggled to navigate the painful milestones that have passed since his death: the first Christmas, and family events that would otherwise be full of joy but are now tinged with sadness.
Nine months ago, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, Jackson, the family’s first grandchild, while Ashley recently married.
And each time, Kathy says, they half expect Bradley to walk through the door to celebrate with them.
‘It still doesn’t feel real. Even now I think: “It can’t be true. He’ll come back”,’ she says.
‘The pain doesn’t go away, but all you can do is learn to live with it.’
To sign a petition calling for tighter safety procedures, visit facebook.com/nzsafety
Culled from The MailOnline UK.
xoxo
Simply Cheska...
No comments:
Post a Comment