The death of a three-year-old girl at an Upper Hutt playground last year has been described by a coroner as a "tragic accident in the true sense of the word".
Amberlie Pennington-Foley died in August last year after playing with her father, Robert Foley, at Harcourt Park in Upper Hutt. The pair had been playing on a Supernova, a tilted rotating ring, when the father lost his balance, fell off the equipment, and landed on the child.
Foley rushed the child to a medical centre where staff called an ambulance and tried to resuscitate her. However, they were unsuccessful.
In his report released on Wednesday, Coroner Peter Ryan said Amberlie "died as the result of a tragic accident that occurred in the context of a father playing with his child on a relatively benign piece of playground equipment".
"There is no evidence to suggest that Mr Foley was operating the Supernova in a dangerous or reckless manner. Rather, his evidence indicates that he was spinning the ring in a gentle manner, and that his daughter was enjoying the ride as she kept asking for more".
The report states that Amberlie's cause of death was blunt trauma of the head and neck with a skull fracture, brain and spinal cord injury. Police investigated and "were satisfied that there is no criminal liability or suspicious circumstances" relating to the death. The family's medical centre also said staff had "no concerns about Amberlie's wellbeing or her family environment".
An inspection of the Supernova after the incident found there were no defects with the equipment and there had been no other reports of injuries from the two local Supernova before or since the accident.
"I am satisfied from the evidence before me that the incident which resulted in Amberlie receiving fatal injuries while playing on the Supernova was not due to any fault or defect with the equipment itself," the coroner said. "Nor do I consider that the equipment is inherently dangerous beyond minor injuries that would be expected of any playground equipment."
He said he wouldn't be surprised that other parents had used the equipment in a similar way without serious incident and it would have been "difficult to foresee that such harm could come to Amberlie while playing on this piece of equipment".
The coroner said the death "was a tragic accident in the true sense of the word" and didn't believe there were any recommendations to make that would "reduce the chances of further deaths occurring in similar circumstances".
A Givealittle set up following Amberlie's death, and which has since closed, raised nearly $60,000.
