A 17-year-old footballer has tragically died after being killed in an accident whilst playing football with friends.
According to reports, Luke Bennett of AFC Fylde had been having a kickabout with pals before being struck by 11,000 volts when a metal pole he was holding above his head got too close to an overhead power line.
Bennett had shown plenty of promise as a footballer, having trials with the likes of Burnley, Blackburn, and Preston, and was also described as always being the life and soul of the party.
His father reportedly sobbed at the inquest, which detailed how he and friends had been playing around with a metal pole near a power line.
Efforts to revive the teenager were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead later that evening.
His father paid tribute, saying: “He was very much the life and soul. His personality was really quite infectious. He was very out-going and was riding a bike before you were supposed to. He just got on with things.
“It was amazing how he could do something without any real practice, he was that kind of lad. He just seemed to excel at pretty much all sports.
“He always asked us to take him to a friend’s house or to play football somewhere at Buckshaw or Euxton.
“I said I’d take him and pick him up. I dropped him off, up the drive, which I’ve done dozens of times.”