A much-loved father died after he drove his car off a cliff in Filey, an inquest heard today (Tuesday).
James Adam Bryan, 28, suffered catastrophic injuries in the crash.
Despite the efforts of lifeboat crews and paramedics to save him, he was declared dead shortly afterwards.
In a statement, Mr Bryan’s mother Lorraine described her son as a very social person who would always drop everything to assist his friends.
“He would have done anything for anyone. The world is a lonelier, sorrier place without him in it,” she said.
The inquest, held by York and North Yorkshire coroner Jonathan Leach at Northallerton Coroners Court, heard that Mr Bryan, from Seafield Avenue, Scarborough, was being treated for depression.
Where to get help
He contacted his GP in July 2022, and there were several more interactions with his GP in the weeks that followed, where he sometimes voiced suicidal thoughts.
He was prescribed medication and referred to the community mental health team. At his final GP consultation on 29 September he reported that things were going better and he was working a lot on his home life.
Mr Bryan also referred himself to mental health services at the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.
He had a meeting with the integrated mental health team at the trust on 22 September and a series of actions were agreed. These included the team asking his GP to extend his sick leave, and providing Mr Bryan with details of both the crisis line and other support organisations that might be helpful.
The inquest heard that these actions had not been carried out at the time of his death on 18 October 2022.
Following the tragedy, Anthony Nelson of the NHS trust undertook a patient safety incident investigation.
The coroner asked Mr Nelson if it was possible to say whether things would have turned out differently had those actions been taken. He said it was “almost impossible” to say that.
He said the trust had taken steps to prevent a repeat of the issue.
Lifeboats scrambled
The inquest heard that Mr Bryan had separated from his partner, and was worried about access to his two young daughters.
His mother spoke to him on the evening before he died when he “seemed positive despite the breakdown of his relationship”.
Shortly before his death, Mr Bryan texted goodbye to his former partner.
Two walkers witnessed a dark green Seat car going over the cliff at about 1.30pm. They called police, who came within ten minutes.
In a statement read to the inquest, John Colling, the lifeboat operations manager for RNLI Filey, said they were asked to assist and launched two lifeboats to go to the scene. Three of the crew made their way to the wreck of the vehicle where they found the casualty with “catastrophic injuries”.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance was called. Paramedics placed Mr Bryan on a stretcher to take him to the beach for treatment. Sadly, they were unable to save him and he was certified dead at 2.54pm.
A post mortem gave the cause of death as traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage. No alcohol was found in his system, or drugs other than prescription medicines.
Police carried out a forensic collision investigation and found no defects with the car that could have contributed to the crash.
In his concluding remarks, Mr Leach said Mr Bryan came from a loving and supportive family.
He died as a result of injuries sustained in driving off the cliff. Mr Leach gave a conclusion of suicide and offered his condolences to the family.
