The grief-stricken wife of a well-known businessman who tragically died after being trapped by his own Range Rover has recounted the chilling moment she stumbled upon his body.
In a heart-wrenching testimony, Sarah-Jane Thirsk relayed how she was thrown into hysteria when she found her 74 year old husband Henry Thirsk, lying dead beside his luxury motor on their plush East Yorkshire estate on April 20, 2022. Despite her frantic life-saving efforts, the hotel owner and shooting enthusiast was confirmed deceased right outside their home.
Recounting the tragic discovery at Hull Coroner’s Court on Monday, she described noticing the gleaming lights of his Range Rover through her bathroom window around 9:30 pm while waiting for him to return. However, nothing could prepare her for the grim finding as she went outside.
Initially mistaking some objects near their garage for ‘sacks’, her blood ran cold when she recognised it was actually her husband’s body sprawled out next to the vehicle.
(Image: Humberside Police / SWNS)
Grappling with the shock, Sarah-Jane told the courtroom: “I saw the driver’s door open and the back door. I started shouting for him. Then I turned round and saw what I thought was some sacks lying by the garage but it was him.”
“I knelt down and when I realised it was him, I jumped up. I went hysterical then I started CPR. He was on his side, so I turned him over. It was quite hard to hear the breathing all the time.”
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The inquest into businessman Henry Thirsk’s tragic death revealed touching details of his 18-year marriage to Sarah-Jane, which blossomed despite health setbacks including a couple of strokes. Despite these challenges, Thirsk was considered to be in good health when he tragically lost his life.
The day he died unravelled with normalcy as Sarah-Jane accompanied her pal John Waters to a medical appointment in Manchester in her husband’s prized Rolls Royce, returning to their farmstead for a cheeky glass of wine at around 4pm. Later, on a trip out to collect a Chinese takeaway, she spotted hubby Thirsk motoring away in his Range Rover – a regular evening ritual linked to checking on his Feathers Hotel estate in Pocklington.
What happened next threw Sarah-Jane for a loop, however. Catching the glint of headlights from her window that eve, positioned oddly near their personal helipad, led to a tense moment.
She decided to investigate but not without backup from her brother James Clegg on the phone, for a sense of security against the dark and uncertain situation. She revealed to the court: “I got dressed and told the dogs we were going outside.”
Courageously, she added: “I decided to ring my brother James to ask him to stay on the phone with me while I went outside because it was dark. The way I walked to the car, you don’t walk past the lights where he was. It was a few hundred yards. I rang my brother in case it wasn’t [Henry’s car].”
The inquest was told that James had called for an ambulance after hearing Sarah-Jane’s cries over the phone. The coroner, Paul Marks, read out his statement which detailed her saying “Henry’s not in the car,” followed by repeated screams of “Henry, Henry, Henry, Henry,” upon seeing Henry’s severely injured body.
James recounted: “She was saying Henry, Henry, wake up.”
George Cooper, a neighbouring farmer who had known Mr Thirsk for more than three decades, also received a distressing call from Sarah-Jane. In court, he recalled her urgent plea on the phone: “You’ve got to come quickly, You’ve got to come quickly, I need you now.”
Upon his arrival, Cooper performed CPR on Mr Thirsk for “17 minutes” until the road ambulance arrived and paramedics took over.
Under questioning by Mr Marks, Sarah-Jane explained why she moved Mr Thirsk’s car and photographed his injuries before help arrived. She said: “I kept thinking he was alive and when we went the hospital for his strokes, and we went there for something else, maybe eye surgery, he said ‘Let me see the pictures, let me see what I look like with all my leads on’. And I think I did it to show him when he asked me when I showed him.”
She recounted the frantic moments, saying: “George said the air ambulance is coming and in that moment, that’s where we landed our helicopter and I just thought, they can’t land as the car is in the way. I moved the car off the field so they could land.”
In a grim twist, Pathologist Dr Christopher Johnson, after examining the body, concluded Mr Thirsk’s injuries were ‘consistent’ with being crushed by a car.
Dr Johnson detailed the tragic findings: “The autopsy examination of Henry Stamford Thirsk confirmed that he died as a result of chest injuries from being crushed under the tyres of a vehicle. The heart was extensively disrupted, and this would have been unable to effectively pump blood around the body. He died as a result of chest injuries and the injuries noted in the autopsy were all entirely typical of injuries that arise from when an individual is run over and crushed by the wheels of a vehicle.”
The inquest into the harrowing incident is ongoing.