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news
Police tape (CC licensed by freefotouk on Flickr)Heartbroken mother of 12-year-old killed during first cycle on road bike urges parents to supervise new riders
The mother of a 12-year-old boy killed while out cycling with his dad has urged parents to be aware of the possible dangers of riding on the road.
Taira Caton, whose son Corey, died after being hit by the driver of a van on a road near Reading, Berkshire, said she had got 'no closure' following an inquest into his death this week.
Speaking to BerkshireLive after the hearing at Oxfordshire Coroners' Court, Mrs Caton said: “I have had no closure from the inquest, my son’s death has merely been recorded as a road traffic collision and nothing is going to bring him back.
“But parents have a duty of care and responsibility and you must think twice about your children’s competencies.
“They must have the right training, the right equipment and parents must think twice about taking them out on country roads with blind bends.
“There must never be a lack of supervision.
“Every parent always has a duty of care.”
Corey, a pupil at St Joseph’s College in Reading, lived with Mrs Caton in Shinfield Road.
The accident happened the day after Corey's dad, Daniel, gave his son a road bike as an early Christmas present.
Corey had never ridden a road bike before when Mr Caton decided to take his son on a cycle ride to Pangbourne via the B417 Whitchurch Hill.
Corey died after losing control on the hill, skidding across the road and hitting an oncoming van.
The inquest heard, at the top of Whitchurch Hill Mr Caton cycled ahead and was near the bottom of the hill, waiting for his son to arrive, when he saw traffic mounting up.
He cycled back up and saw Corey lying on the ground. He told the inquest he had not heard the impact between his son and the van.
The court heard Corey rode his mountain bike off road but his mother said she would never let him ride to school on the roads because of the traffic.
Coroner Darren Salter concluded Corey was an inexperienced cyclist riding an unfamiliar bicycle on an unfamiliar route.
He recorded Corey’s death on November 9, 2020 as a road traffic collision after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
After his death, Corey's organs helped save the lives of two people
He was treated at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital but died two days after the crash after undergoing surgery to alleviate pressure on his brain.
Mrs Caton says: “They operated but I could see in the doctors’ eyes that it was highly unlikely it would work.
“They switched the machine off on the Monday morning and I think they waited until then so the organ transplant teams could be ready.”
The schoolboy’s heart saved the life of a man in his early 40s and his kidneys went to a woman in her teens and a man aged in his 30s, both of whom were long-term dialysis patients.
Mrs Caton added: “He loved maths and art and never like to see anyone upset, he never let anyone feel excluded.”
His father released a statement through Thames Valley Police about the ‘worst nightmare’ of losing his ‘beloved son.’
He said “I truly wish anything else that day had happened. That we went left not right, that we’d never gone cycling that day or any other day, anything that meant Corey was still alive today, still the intelligent, loving and chuckling, witty son with his whole future ahead of him.
"His loss has and will continue to heavily weigh down on his entire family in the absence of his joyous company, someone that his grandparents and I had so many more plans for.
“Our world has been shattered.”
Latest Comments
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Just my opinion, but sorry that bike is UGLY! I can't see that sort of price for a completed bike, not alone for just the frame and fork!...
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May need insurance, tax and a licence. No problem with the lights though.
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26 comments
Absolutely heartbraking set of circumstances for all parties involved, the parents, the family, the van driver and anyone that may have witnessed the incident or had to deal with the aftermath. Dreadful in every way.
My condolences
This is so very upsetting to read. No words, so very very sad.
A nightmare for everyone involved, so sad.
Might have been kinder if Road CC had mentioned at the start of the article that it wasn't the van drivers fault as it was half way through before it was mentioned that the young lad lost control and hit the van. Naturally I just assumed it was the driver who killed the lad.
At the start of the article they have written "hit by the driver of a van" - you didn't assume anything the article is poorly written - unless the driver actually got out of his van and hit the child, following the collision.
My deepest sympathies to his family
It's Whitchurch hill, I know it well. As you start the descent it gets steep quickly and at the same time throws a couple of slightly off camber bends at you. Plus, being under trees, it's usually damp in winter. To be treated with care. What can you do except wish you could turn back time.
What Corey shoud have expected is his father not to have put him in a position he was not equipped to deal with as a 12 year old child with no experience of riding an adults road bike with thin tyres.
Tragic, and from reading this article (and nothing more) Is suspect that Dad will be questioning himself for the rest of his life.
"I have had no closure from the inquest" I have read this kind of line a few times, and I'm afraid to me it simple means that the inquest didn't come to the conclusion that I had jumped to before it started.
A very sad story
Horrendous and any parent's worst nightmare. I can only begin to imagine how distressing this incident has been for everyone from the Father, the van driver, those who responded and the family.
But, but, but wrapping children in a no risk world is a death by suffocation of imagination, development and means they are ill equipped to handle risk as adults. My own kids climbed trees, walked to school, cycle outside, skateboard, travel in the family car, used sharp knives, cook on the stove, canoe, swim, got childhood diseases from socialising with friends, fell over and grazed their knees. Any of those activities could have and still can result in permanent injury or death. It isn't negligent parenting to give your children the chance to learn painful lessons. Whilst no amount of trite comments will ever help heal what happened to young Corey, at a population level; active travel, fitness from cycling and learning roadcraft from a young age will save and enrich many more lives.
100%
Messed up situation. On one hand this kid was inexperienced but how do you build up experience? Feel for the parents.
By the time I was 10 I'd already done some bmx races and my riding skill set was pretty much in place. I lived in small village so riding on the road wasn't the hell of constant traffic it is now. Our parents just left us to it, I don't think I ever rode a bike with my parents only my friends.
Same, except at not much older than this I was riding my bike into central london and there was plenty of traffic.
Although there is a change in moving from a mountain bike to a ride bike, they handle differently, and go much faster without any effort on descents. Some familiarisation with the bike before taking high speed downhills is probably required.
Speaking from experience as my own son crashed on a fast downhill the first time on a road bike, luckily it was windsor great park, so no other vehicles were around. But the crash and subsequent injury put him off cycling completely.
One of the problems round here is that the flat roads tend to be the main roads, with the small country lanes being quite hilly, so you seek to avoid traffic and end up on the steeper roads which carry different risks.
However, it seems the boy did want to ride on the road and did want a road bike, so eventually he would have bought his own ride bike and gone out without any training or supervision. Which would also bring a risk.
The boy did not want a road bike. His father had not taken him cycling for over two years. When his father found out i was taking Corey to Dinton pastures on his mountain bike he wanted to compete.. He would push Corey far out of his comfort zone beacuse he wanted to go out and have fun and a child got in the way of that.
Experience is not built up by sending a child down a steep hill on a bike he had never ridden before. Perhaps gain experience on a new bike on normal roads and not be left on your own to deal with a situation you are not equipped to deal with. To be taken out on steep roads on a bike you have no experience of and then be left on your own when your father races down a steep hill. What did he think was going to happen? Sadly he didnt think he never thought that was the issue.. he never though about anybody but himself.
My worst nightmare as a father of an 11yo, I honestly don't think I could live with myself. I used to ride with on the road with him when he was 7/8 but wouldn't risk it now
My 29 year old daughter has just started going on bike rides with her husband and their one year old in a child bike seat...it scares the daylights out of me! However, she used to ride with me in a club 15 years ago, has ridden horses on the road most of life and is acutely aware of the dangers so she'll do all she can to make it safe and fun...
Thats what a loving parent does. Whenever i took Corey out. I would stay with him by his side so that cars had to come out further to pass us. If they were ever too close they were close to me not my son. A loving decent parent puts their child first . However Dan Caton wasnt that type of parent he did everything he could over the two years prior to Coreys death to cause us as much pain as possible, he terrorised us in our home to the point Corey would ask me if i had put the alarm on before we went to bed. I know if i had stopped Corey from seeing his father he would still be alive today. That is were i didnt protect him, i let him down.
His Father bought a sports car a week after Coreys funeral and then got his Solicitor to request i give him another 30K from the house. As you can see Coreys death clearly affected him.
Very sad tale. Dad will be reliving that day for the rest of his life.
Mum seems furious with the Dad not surprisingly. Was looking for a verdict of negligence against him if you read the detailed report and was banned from the funeral.
Know the hill well 12% max gradient and comes abruptly into the village, and nearly aways cars parked at the bottom with a couple of sweeping tightish bends halfway down. Not sure I'd describe them as blind though.
Braking on a road bike is a bit more complex if you come from MTB's as there's 2 or 3 hand positions and diving into the drops to brake can seem counter-intuitive to a novice - I know I found it so anyway.
Yep I agree. An awful, tragic accident. I live not far away and climb the hill regularly, wouldnt consider descending it unless I had to.
Absolutely, why then would any parent take a 12 year old child out on an unfamilar road, an unfamilar bike and then leave them on their own... There was a saying i had for him. Nothing gets in the way of Dan Caton having fun. You see this was not an isolated incident. A few months prior he brought Corey him on the back of a motorbike wearing Sandals. He laughed at me when i got upset. Being reckless with Corey was a frequent occurence, i just did not realise how bad as i would stop him from doing stupid things when we were together.
I agree which begs the question why send an inexperienced 12 year old child on an adults road bike he had never ridden down it? Did it have anything to do with the fact he wanted him out of private school as refused to pay half his school fees and maintenance.... or was it an accident?
The Dad was not banned from the Funeral, he chose not to attend and decided on a seperate service. No doubt because he could not face me after what he had done. Anyone that knows the hill well as did his father, knows how steep it is. Why then would you take a 12 year old child out on an adult road bike, something he had never riden before. It was bought off ebay two days prior. Take the child out on narrow country roads and then race the child down a knowingly steep hill? The child was my son just 12 years old. His father had not bought him a cycle helmet and gave him his own. Corey suffered a massive head injury but there was no damage to the helmet...
The father didnt even stick arond at the John Radcliffe while my son was dying, he went home. He didnt call me when my son had the accident, what kind of father does that... What kind of human being does that?
My deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Corey.