Sponsored by
Boy of 10 dies playing in the snow
Josh Houlgate.
A 10-year-old died suddenly while snowballing and building snowmen with friends near his home.
Joshua Houlgate’s family have talked of their devastation at losing the loving boy who went out to play and never came home.
Joshua collapsed in the Smawthorne area of Castleford on Sunday afternoon.
He complained of feeling unwell before collapsing outside nine-year-old friend Connor Thompson’s home.
Connor’s father Simon Thompson, 29, battled for half an hour to revive an unconscious Joshua.
Mr Thompson dialled 999 and performed chest compressions on advice from the operator.
Joshua’s mother Sara Houlgate, 35, was alerted and she also attempted mouth-to-mouth resucitation in a bid to save her only child’s life.
The boy’s father Jeffrey Houlgate also arrived on the scene as attempts were made to save the youngster.
Joshua was taken by ambulance to Pindefields Hospital at Wakefield, where he was pronounced dead.
Fighting back tears, his grandmother Rose, 63, said: “He went out to play as fit as a fiddle. It is just unbelievable.
“He was a loving boy who loved his dog Jack. Jack would try to get out of his way because Josh wanted to hug him all the time.”
His mother Sara said: “All we know at the moment is that it appears as though he has had a fit.”
Mrs Houlgate hailed Mr Thompson’s efforts. She said: “I can’t thank him enough for trying so hard to save my son’s life.”
Mr Thompson said: “Anybody would have done the same to try to save him.” He added: “I feel numb to be honest.”
Mrs Houlgate said Joshua was autistic and had suffered from epilepsy as a younger boy. He had not had a fit for two years.
Joshua was a pupil at Smawthorne Henry Moore Primary School, Castleford.
Headteacher Julie Murray, said yesterday: “We are very saddened by the tragic death of Joshua and send our sincere sympathies to his family and friends.
“Joshua held a very special place in our hearts. He was a much loved pupil who was well liked by his friends and all the staff at school.
“We are a very close knit school community and are supporting the children and staff to help them come to terms with what has happened. This morning we held a special assembly which gave us all the opportunity to come together to pray for Joshua and his family. We have also set up a memory board where the children can share memories of Joshua and remember the special times we had together in school.”
A police spokeswoman said there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding Joshua’s death.
The spokeswoman added: “A post mortem will be carried out and a file will be passed to the coroner.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Chris R
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 01:17 PMMy deepest condolences to the family and friends of Joshua, very sad, very tragic..... R.I.P Joshua
bramley whites
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:07 AMSo sad such a tragedy god bless you josh xxx so sad for all your family
bramley whites
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:06 AMSo sad such a tragedy god bless you josh xxx so sad for all your family
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.