The family of a teenage boy who died while hiking with this father on the Badjirrajirra Walk, in Cape Range National Park, Australia heard that their son's passing may have been prevented had emergency services understood the teen's father's distraught 911 call.
Ewan Louis Williamson from Largs, Scotland was just 14-years-old when he fell ill during a father / son excursion in Western Australia after temperatures reached a scorching 48 degrees Celsius.
According to court reports, Ewan's frantic father, Gordon, placed a call to emergency services citing that his son had become ill and was unable to walk, but it appears a breakdown in communication resulted in a significantly delayed response from authorities.
Having relayed the events of the day to the Western Australian Coroner's Court, Mr. Williamson subsequently learned that his phone call had not been logged as an emergency as the operator was unable to understand his accent.
Further to this, the court heard medical response was further delayed as Mr. Williamson, although an experienced hiker, was unable to offer precise GPS coordinates of their location on account of being unfamiliar with the region.
The inquest heard that once emergency services did arrive approximately one hour after the initial call was placed, they failed to bring a stretcher meaning emergency crew had no choice but to carry the ill teen half a kilometre - an endeavour which the court heard "took a long time".
Despite attempting to resuscitate Ewan, the teen was pronounced dead in hospital later than evening.
According to The Scotsman, the inquest continues.
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