THE tragedy of a Hampshire mum on a skiing holiday “boils down to bad luck”, an inquest heard.

Sandra Thompson, 59, of Hocombe Road, Chandler's Ford, was an experienced snowboarder, but in February last year, just two days into her holiday at an Austrian ski resort, she died after falling and hitting her head.

A hearing in Winchester today, was told that her son Christopher, 25, himself a ski instructor, was the first to come to her aid.

He said that there was nothing uncommon about the way that she fell, that she had been wearing her helmet, and that she had not been travelling at speed.

“It was pretty obvious that she wasn't getting up within one or two seconds. I quickly unstrapped my snowboard and ran over to my mother. Immediately I could see she was having trouble breathing,” he said.

She had been on holiday with her husband, David Thompson, 58, a managing partner at Southampton-based solicitors Moore Blatch, and their two sons James and Christopher, and their girlfriends.

Mr Thompson arrived on the scene some time after his son.

He said: “I think at that stage Christopher just said 'Mum fell'. I suppose at that stage you think of sporting injuries and so on, but you're not drastically concerned. But then the ski patrol said they had already called an air ambulance.

“I could see that her pupils were dilated and that was when I started to become really worried.”

Mrs Thompson was taken by air ambulance, but having suffered a subdural haematoma, she was declared brain dead two days later and her ventilator was switched off.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Deputy Coroner for Central Hampshire, Simon Burge, told the inquest: “If ever there was a case which justifies the use of the word 'tragedy', this is one of those cases.

“Chris could not have done more than he did. He managed to keep his presence of mind and behave appropriately to a situation unravelling in front of him.

“I'm afraid it does boil down to bad luck on the part of Mrs Thompson.”