A four-year-old boy died when his hoodie got caught on a door as it swung shut behind him.
Maison Hirstle was running into the block of flats where his father lived in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, when he caught his hood on the door knob.
He was found by a neighbour at the entrance to the flats on October 21 last year.
An inquest into his death today heard the youngster, described by his mother as ‘cheeky, happy and full of life’, had taken the day off school because of a respiratory infection.
Maison Hirstle died in October last year when his hoodie got caught on a door knob
Despite being off school sick, Maison had begged his father to play outside with his brother and ‘best friend’, Preston, who was five.
But as he ran back inside the building, Maison got his hood caught on the inside doorknob in what the coroner called an ‘extraordinary and tragic accident’.
The hood tightened around his head and neck and strangled the four-year-old, the inquest heard.
Neighbour Rafal Twardowski, 32, told the inquest he came to the block of flats with a friend at around 2pm on October 21.
He said: ‘There were some kids running around outside, there always are. My friends tried to open the door but it felt like it was blocked.
‘Then we saw that there were small feet hanging on the other side. So I shouted at him to push harder.
‘We got the door open enough to get in I saw the boy was hanging from the other side by his hood. His lips were grey and he wasn’t breathing.’
As he ran inside the building, Maison got his hood caught on the inside doorknob in what the coroner called an ‘extraordinary and tragic accident’
Mr Twardowski and his friend called an ambulance, took Maison down from the door and started to give him CPR.
Maison’s father James Hirstle, 30, told the inquest his then 16-year-old son TJ, who had been visiting that day, found Rafal giving Maison CPR in the communal entrance.
A distraught TJ picked Maison up in his arms, took him upstairs and laid him out on the living room floor where he and his father tried to revive him.
When ambulance crews arrived at the flat they continued to try to revive Maison before taking him to Scarborough Hospital, but he never regained consciousness.
Mr Hirstle said: ‘I was on the balcony watching them play, but got distracted for about half and hour when TJ came over.
‘They were always playing outside and running in and out of that door. Maison had begged me to be allowed to go and play and even though he was off school I let him.
‘He was inseparable from Preston. They were best friends and you never saw them apart.
‘Of course I blame myself. I have to live with this everyday. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.’
Maison was described by his heartbroken mother as ‘cheeky, happy and full of life’
Speaking after the inquest at Scarborough Rugby Club today, Maison’s mother Katrina Glendinning, 37, said: ‘I’m absolutely devastated. I loved him more than the world.
‘I’m sorry because I should have been there for him and obviously we all loved him more than we can say.
‘I just don’t really understand how this has happened. It’s been hard to take it in and it still is.
‘He was so full of life and really cheeky too. He always had a smile on his face and never stopped making people laugh. That’s how we want to remember him.’
Paediatric pathologist Dr Srinavas Annavarapu noted Maison was suffering from a respiratory infection, but said this would not have contributed to his death.
There were no wounds or bruises that would indicate violence and the ligatures around his neck were consistent with hanging, the inquest heard.
North Yorkshire East coroner Michael Oakley recorded the death as accidental.
He said: ‘This clearly is a case of an extremely tragic accident. Maison was pulled from school and we know from the evidence that it was because of an upper respiratory infection.
‘He had been playing outside where he lived with his brother and friend and in some extraordinary way he had his hood trapped in the door leading into the common area of the flats.
‘This has led to his death by causing the ligatures around his neck.’