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Woman Critically Injured In Padstow Obby Oss Incident

Yithian

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Padstow Obby Oss festival: Police examine 'oss' after woman injured
  • 2 May 2019
A woman who was seriously injured at a May Day festival may have been struck by a person wearing a traditional Obby Oss horse costume, police say.

The 33-year-old suffered a neck injury and was found unresponsive at about 19:30 BST at the Obby Oss festival in Padstow, Cornwall.

She was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and is in a "critical but stable condition".

Officers are examining reports she may have been hit by the Blue Ribbon Oss.

Continues briefly with pictures:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-48135193

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Shipwrights Inn issues statement:

It said: “On Wednesday 1st May, a 33-year-old woman suffered a neck injury and was found unresponsive at the Obby Oss festival in Padstow, Cornwall. She was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where she remains in a ‘critical but stable condition’. We have no further news at this time.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to her family and those affected by Wednesday’s incident, including our staff and customers at The Shipwrights Inn.”

The Red and Blue Oss meet at the ever popular Maypole Dance (Image: Adrian Jasper)
The 33-year-old was resuscitated by police and paramedics after collapsing in St Saviours Lane, off the town centre, at around 7.30pm.


She was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth with serious neck injuries. Devon and Cornwall Police are carrying out enquiries to discover how the woman sustained her injuries.

Source:
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/shirpwrights-inn-issues-statement-after-2829030
 
According to a follow up article the 34 yr old woman has since died in hospital from her injuries.

The report suggests that aside from her encounter with the oss she may also have been assaulted roughly an hour prior to collapsing at the parade:

Officers are investigating reports that she may have been struck by the Obby Oss while walking on the footpath between St Saviours Lane and the war memorial at St Saviours Point.

The Blue Ribbon Obby Oss has been examined and returned, and the Health and Safety Executive has been informed.

Police say it is also believed that Laura may have been assaulted by another female earlier in the evening, around 6.30pm, somewhere in the vicinity of the London Inn in Church Lane.
 
It sounds to me--with no insider information--that she suffered some kind of head injury and was later bumped into by the Oss, which likely had very little to do with her eventual death.

Edit: neck injury, rather.
 
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It is hard to see how either of the osses could have struck someone with sufficient force to cause serious injury. Each oss is light enough for a man to wear/carry and dance for an extended period. It has a circular perimeter. My first impression is that the association of this untimely death with the traditional even makes it a better story, but is likely to be a red herring.

For those of you who are not familiar with the oss, here's a link to a very good video of this year's event. Notice how the crowds are generally respectful and interact with the oss without ever getting close enough to be hurt.

As a Morris dancer, I feel rather protective of these traditional events, and worry that any bad publicity, deserved or not, is one more step towards over-regulation and effectively banning the event via the back door.

 
Read this yesterday and something didn't add up.

"She was killed after being hit by the flailing Oss, oh and by the way she had earlier been beaten up..."

So many news articles these days drop in throwaway references to important facts that they do not elaborate on.

Standard of journalism is in the gutter.
 
Read this yesterday and something didn't add up.

"She was killed after being hit by the flailing Oss, oh and by the way she had earlier been beaten up..."

So many news articles these days drop in throwaway references to important facts that they do not elaborate on.

Standard of journalism is in the gutter.

Seeing as how it'll be a criminal investigation if she was attacked, and the news outlets didn't know the full story, you can forgive them for being tentative.
 
Won't it be the same if it was the 'Oss?
 
Yeah, but the full story still isn't clear. If she fell over and clonked her head (not improbable) either because of the Oss or not, that's something for the police to work out, not the newspapers.
 
Something brought this strange case to mind the other day, and I wondered if there had been any developments. According to the Beeb, no charges will be brought.

Laura Smallwood collapsed with a neck injury during the annual Obby Oss celebrations in Padstow and died three days later.

Devon and Cornwall Police investigated reports she may have been hit by a hobby horse costume during the event, or that she may have been assaulted.

The force has now referred the death to the coroner.

The 34-year-old suffered a neck injury and was found unresponsive at the festival at about 19:30 BST on 1 May. She was airlifted to hospital in a critical but stable condition but later died.
 
This is such nonsense. If a person's condition is 'critical' it cannot be 'stable'. They can however be in a serious but stable condition.

To be pedantic, she’s currently stable but definitely not critical.

maximus otter
 
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