4-year-old Freya Thorpe accidentally hanged herself when her cycling helmet got caught in a tree.

The young girl was playing near her home when the straps of her pink unicorn cycle helmet strangled her after they got stuck on a branch.

Freya, whose mother just gave birth to twins, slipped from the tree but her helmet got caught. Despite efforts of paramedics and strangers, she passed away in the hospital after two days.

The child was captured on surveillance camera parking her scooter before going toward the tree.

The officer investigating her death, detective constable Bryn Smith, said: “Freya left her house to play in a fenced grassy area outside her neighbour’s home.

“Her father, Chris, left in the car… waving goodbye to Freya.

“Due to the sheer nature of the tree bark, not channeled or grooved as some bark is, it would have been a bit slippery to climb without appropriate footwear.

“This was nothing more than a child climbing a tree, perhaps losing her footing resulting in her helmet getting stuck in a branch and the helmet straps strangling her.

“It is cruel and it is unfair but this appears to be a terrible accident.”

The tree has already been cut down, detective constable Smith added. The inquest also heard that Connor Everett, a local resident, was called to help as others couldn’t lift Freya from where she was hanging.

“I saw a girl, suspended in the ‘v’ of the tree trunk and branch, by the sides of the cycle helmet.”

By the time emergency services arrived, residents had been trying to revive the four-year-old using CPR. She was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where she was placed into an induced coma. Unfortunately, she passed away two days later.

Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter concluded the inquest and said: “Clearly no-one else was involved in this tragedy.

“It was a case of climbing a tree but her helmet, which of course she was wearing for safety reasons having had her scooter with her, then became caught in what is described as a v formed by the branch against the tree trunk and in so doing, the strap from the helmet has caused Freya to hang.”

A GoFundMe page was set up to support the young girl’s parents, Elise and Chris. Her mother had given birth to twins only 10 days before Freya died.

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