Girl, 11, died after hidden branch pierced her heart at beauty spot in Cornwall

Girl, 11, died after hidden branch pierced her heart at beauty spot in Cornwall Lilly Angel Rodgers, 11, was playing with her friends in the mud flats at Wacker Quay near Plymouth on a summer's day when a pointy branch or root hidden in the mud punctured her heart An 11-year-old girl died after a branch hidden in mud pierced her heart as she played with friends at a Cornwall beauty spot, an inquest heard. Little Lilly Angel Rodgers was enjoying herself sliding down a muddy bank when a hidden pointy branch or root punched through her ribs. An inquest into the death of the 11-year-old from Newton Abbot in Truro today heard how Lilly had been a fit, healthy and very active youngster who loved outdoor activities like surfing, climbing, camping and stand-up paddle boarding. The little girl had been playing in the mud flat at Wacker Quay near Plymouth when disaster struck. The pals had played there on many other occasions before but this time it was to have fatal consequences. The three children were about 50 metres from the shore where there was a bank sliding down towards a channel in the River Lynher, Cornwall Live reported. The inquest heard how the mum of the other two children called them back to be within her line of sight while she and her partner prepared a barbecue. The mum said the children were rolling around in the mud and "crawling commando-style". She said that after she called them back so she could see them, the three children continued playing, doing star fish then sliding head first down the mud bank where the channel was. It was at that point that Lilly stood up, grabbed her chest and gasped before flopping down into the mud on her front. The adults were alerted that something wrong was going on by screams from the other children sparking a difficult rescue operation. The inquest heard how the other children's mum and her partner tried to reach Lilly before another adult arrived and emergency services were called. Paramedics tried to save her but it was decided the unconscious girl should be airlifted to dry land by the coastguard search and rescue helicopter. It took 40 minutes to bring Lilly back to shore from the mud flats. The young girl was later taken to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth where she was declared deceased. A branch hidden in the mud had severed a pulmonary artery which led to her heart stopping, the inquest was told. James Garvican, consultant pathologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro told the inquest that he was surprised to find a wound near the top of Lilly's ribcage. He said the wound, when explored in detail, was 7cm deep inside Lilly's chest. Dr Garvican recorded a medical cause of death as "penetrating chest trauma". He told the inquest how it was most likely a branch or pointy root hidden below the surface of the mud in the bank which caused the fatal injury. He added: "It's extremely bad luck. Half an inch to the right and it would just have glanced off her ribcage and left a bruise and a scratch. Half an inch to the left and it may still have gone in but it would not have damaged vital organs. This was not a survivable injury." He said Lilly had likely lost consciousness straight away and not been aware of any rescue attempt or CPR taking place. Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Lilly's death. Andrew Cox, senior coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said playing in the mud is the sort of things that kids do, adding: "It's what I did too as a child." He added: "Whatever Lilly fell on caused the wound found at the postmortem and resulted in her death. "There was nothing suspicious. In the circumstances it was the most truly, desperately and unlikely accident. Lilly slid on a branch with a sharp point that had been covered by the mud. "Lilly and her friends had played many times before in that location. She was being watched over by adults who had made sure she stayed within their line of sight. "There has been no previous incident of that nature at this site for 40 years. This is by any measure a desperately unfortunate sequence of events." Mr Cox concluded in an accidental death.