Cardiac Dysrhythmia

An RAF serviceman collapsed and died on a training run in Cyprus led by an unqualified instructor, an inquest has heard.

Shaun Broster, 24, a senior aircraftman from Moreton, Wirral, suffered heart failure minutes before the end of an eight-kilometre run through the country's hills.

Coroner's officer Arthur Flower told the inquest, at Wallasey Town Hall, that there was no safety vehicle or qualified fitness instructor when they set off for the run.

He said: "At various stages the deceased was seen to be struggling. On a few occasions he stopped running and was bent over with his hands on his knees. He was retching and trying to catch his breath."

The forces pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination said the soldier died from cardiac dysrhythmia as a result of Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome which he suffered with in 2001.

Mr Flower described the syndrome as a blockage in the ventricles of the heart but added that, shortly before the training run, aircraftman Broster's fitness was considered "above average".

The coroner recorded a verdict of natural causes.

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