‘I couldn’t grab her in time!’: Trainee accountant, 29, slipped and plunged 100ft to her death from waterfall in front her devastated boyfriend… just seconds after they lovingly said how happy they were together
- Hannah Lowe lost her footing and plunged 100ft to her death in the Peak District
- The 29-year-old trainee accountant was an experienced hill walker and climber
- She was with her boyfriend Adam Stanaway when she fell from Kinder Downfall
Hannah Lowe, (pictured) a trainee accountant and experienced rock climber, lost her footing and fell to her death in the Peak District
As they sat on top of a waterfall looking out over the Peak District, Hannah Lowe and Adam Stanaway spoke of their joy at the prospect of buying their first house together.
Moments later, Miss Lowe lost her footing and plunged 100ft to her death, an inquest heard yesterday.
The trainee accountant, 29, was an experienced hill walker and climber. But as she and her boyfriend – who was due to turn 30 the next day – got up to leave the beauty spot at the top of Kinder Downfall in Derbyshire, she slipped and fell to the bottom.
Chesterfield Coroner’s Court heard the couple had set out on a walk on Easter Monday with Miss Lowe’s mother and sister, leaving from the village of Edale just after noon.
After three hours the party reached the top of Kinder Scout peak and had a picnic before the couple left alone. They spent a short time at the top of the nearby waterfall before getting up to leave.
‘They sat and talked about their future and how happy they were,’ Sergeant Trevor Seed said in a report read at the inquest. ‘It was Adam’s 30th birthday the next day and they were completing the purchase of their first house.’
Miss Lowe was with her boyfriend Adam Stanaway (pictured) when she fell from Kinder Downfall in Derbyshire
The walking party reached the top of Kinder Scout peak and had a picnic before the couple left alone. They spent a short time at the top of the nearby waterfall (pictured) before getting up to leave
The trainee accountant, 29, was an experienced hill walker and climber. She lost her footing and plunged 100ft to her death in the Peak District
A statement by Mr Stanaway described the horrifying moment his girlfriend fell. ‘Hannah turned around and lost her footing on the rocks,’ he said. ‘I reached around to grab her bag but I couldn’t grab it in time and she fell.
‘I looked, but I could not see her because my eyes are not that good. I shouted for Hannah’s mother and she came over. We tried to get down but had to go back up.’
Miss Lowe was eventually found dead at the foot of the waterfall. An investigation found that there were no suspicious circumstances.
The inquest heard Miss Lowe (pictured), from Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, had enjoyed walking and climbing since she was a girl
The inquest heard Miss Lowe, from Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, had enjoyed walking and climbing since she was a girl.
In recent years she had taken up bouldering – climbing on small rock formations without using ropes – and was said to ‘keep herself physically fit’.
She had worked herself up to the position of assistant accountant and was studying for exams.
Mr Stanaway said: ‘This has been a terrible shock. One minute she was happy and looking forward to our new life together, the next she was gone. She was a wonderful, beautiful person who will be sorely missed by all those lucky enough to have known her.’
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Derbyshire Assistant Coroner Emma Serrano said: ‘To say that she was much-loved is an understatement.’