Inquest resumes into death of Redcar steel worker Peter Coates

Peter Coates, who suffered from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), called 999 when a power cut stopped the oxygen supply from his machine at his home in Dormanstown, near Redcar.

It should have taken just minutes for ambulance crews to arrive - but the outage left an ambulance crew struggling to get out of the gates to its nearby station. 

A second crew then stopped to refuel on the way to the former British Steel worker’s home and struggled to find a key safe when they arrived. 

By the time they got inside, 34 minutes after the first crew was sent, the 62-year-old was found dead in bed.

Almost seven years after his death in March 2019, an inquest finally got underway at Teesside Coroners’ Court on Tuesday (January 6). 

The inquest heard that after calling 999 for help, Peter somehow managed to get access to a portable oxygen cylinder and was hooked up to the supply when paramedics entered and found him dead.

Expert witness Dr Simon Quantrill, clinical lead for respiratory medicine at Whipps Cross Hospital in London, described Peter's lung function as already "at the borderline of being compatible with survival”.

The inquest heard that on an average day Peter, who battled lung cancer in 2014 and had relied on oxygen at home since 2016, would be on his supply all the time.

Dr Quantrill said it "would have required some physical extension for Peter to both call an ambulance and find the portable oxygen."

Peter’s daughter Kellie said her dad, who now has seven grandchildren, said “everyone knew my dad and had a fond story to tell about him”. 

“We all miss him like crazy,” she told the inquest.

“It wasn’t his time to go. It is clear to us that if the ambulance got to him in the two minutes it should have taken he would not have died.”

The inquest continues.