Tomos was crushed by a vehicle in a field on 6 September 2021
By Colette Hume & Catherine Evans
BBC News
A mum found her nine-year-old son “in a little ball” after he was struck by a water bowser, an inquest has heard.
Tomos Rhys Bunford died in September 2021 when his dad lost control while driving a truck and towing a water bowser on a steeply sloped field.
The family escaped from the vehicle but Tomos was hit and died at the scene in Blaenllechau, Rhondda Cynon Taf, after suffering chest and abdomen injuries.
A coroner in Pontypridd reached a conclusion of accidental death.
Tomos, together with his mother, father, sister and brother, escaped from the vehicle, but the inquest heard he was then hit by the water bowser.
His mother Louise told the hearing she thought her son had jumped clear of the truck and trailer as it slid down the hill, but then saw him “in a little ball”.
The hearing was told the family drove the short distance from their home at Tyr y Gelli Farm near Ynysybwl to the field to take water for a herd of calves on the morning of 6 September 2021.
Rhys Bunford said it was a journey the family had made many times before, with the bowser hooked to the rear of their pickup truck.
He became tearful as he described his son as a happy child who loved being with animals.
“We bought a pet calf for him. He would walk it on a lead around the yard,” he said.
He said it was a sunny day and the dew was rising. The ground had been dry for some time.
As he began driving into the field, he felt the truck slide. He said he regained control but seconds later the truck began to slip again.
In tears, he explained he lost control as the truck continued to slide, picking up speed and heading towards a sheer drop at the end of the field.
Mr Bunford said he told his family to get out of the truck.
“I thought it was a safer position for us all to get out rather than wait to see what happened,” he said.
The family had travelled the short distance from their home at Tyr y Gelli Farm near Ynysybwl to the field on the day of the tragic accident
His wife Louise was sitting in the back of the truck with their baby Clemmie. Tomos Rhys was sitting next to her. Gethin, the couple’s eldest son, was in the front passenger seat.
Mrs Bunford said she pushed Tomos Rhys out before jumping out, clutching baby Clemmie to her chest. As the wheels of the truck went over her, she said she thought she was going to die and threw the baby to her son Gethin.
“I thought ‘if anyone is going to go, it’s going to be me’,” she said.
“When I was under the truck wheels I could see the bowser coming around to me.”
The family then realised that Tomos Rhys had been hurt after being hit by the bowser as the truck and trailer jack-knifed.
Investigators later found the bowser brakes were not working. At the time of the accident, the water tank weighed about 2,240kg (4,490lb).
The court was told the maximum weight the truck should have been towing without brakes was 750kg (1,650lb)
Tomos Rhys was declared dead at the scene by doctors from the emergency medical response team.
He was later buried on the family farm.
