An 11-year-old girl died in a "desperately unlikely accident" while on holiday in Torpoint, Cornwall, an inquest has heard.
Lilly Angel Rodgers, from Newton Abbot, had been playing with two friends at Wacker Quay, Torpoint, in August last year when a branch hidden in the mud went 7cm into her chest.
The inquest, held in Truro, heard that Lilly had been sliding down a muddy bank on her tummy when the pointed branch penetrated her ribs and severed a pulmonary artery.
She stood up and collapsed. Hearing the other children scream, the adults who were with them raised the alarm and called emergency services.
Paramedics made efforts at the scene, but difficult rescue conditions meant it took 40 minutes to bring Lilly from the mud flats to shore. She was airlifted by the coastguard search and rescue helicopter and taken to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, where she was pronounced dead.
Her injury was described as "unsurvivable". Lilly was described as a fit, healthy and very active young girl who loved the outdoors and activities such as surfing, climbing, camping and stand-up paddle boarding.
A post mortem examination found a deep wound between her ribs, with internal damage to the pericardial sac and pulmonary artery. The pathologist said the cause of the wound was not established but could have been from a branch or tree root hidden in the mud.
The cause of Lilly's death was given as penetrating chest trauma. Coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Andrew Cox concluded that her death was accidental. He said in the circumstances it was the most "truly, desperately and unlikely accident".
Tragic Torpoint Accident Kills Newton Abbot Girl