Death of Brit who plunged from Spanish bridge was accident - coroner

by · Mail Online

The death of British daredevil influencer who plunged from Spain's highest bridge was an accident, a coroner has ruled. 

Lewis Stevenson was killed when he fell from Castilla La Mancha bridge, near the city of Talavera de la Reina, on October 13 last year.

Derby coroner Susan Evans told the inquest the 26-year-old wasn't wearing any safety equipment and vomited before falling from the 630ft high structure. 

Spanish authorities earlier stated that the influencer, from Derby, was scaling the structure to create content for his social media accounts. 

The inquest was told how he and a friend scaled the central mast of the bridge in the early hours of the morning using the elevator rail, with Mr Stevenson going first. 

It added: 'As they got to the height of the first cables, Lewis asked his friend to take over the lead as he felt ill. He vomited.

'A few moments later he fell from the bridge and died from the injuries he sustained.'

A source close to the investigation said: 'Both the dead man and the companion that survived were climbing without any harnesses or other protection. 

Lewis Stevenson, 26, fell from the 630ft Castilla La Mancha bridge after ignoring his family's pleas to call off the risky climb (not pictured here)
Tributes to Lewis were led by his heartbroken girlfriend Savannah Parker, who revealed that the last thing he said to her was 'Good night, I love you' the night before his death
According to the local Spanish town council Lewis and a companion had come to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social media before the unfortunate incident

Local councillor Macarena Munoz previously said Mr Stevenson and the 24-year-old man who was with him when he fell to his death, had 'come to Talavera to climb the bridge and create content for social networks'. 

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She described it as an 'unfortunate and sad outcome'.

She said accessing the bridge was 'totally banned', and something 'which we have reiterated on many occasions cannot be done under any circumstances', but Mr Stevenson went ahead with the stunt, lost his grip and fell. 

Situated over the River Tagus, local media sources say the bridge has for several years attracted climbers and social media influencers who ignore the ban to scale.

Lewis’s mother, Keila Stevenson, previously said his family were 'absolutely devastated' by the 'tragic accident', and described him as a 'thrill-seeker' who had a passion for photography, travel and new experiences.

Mrs Stevenson said they supported his adventures, but 'didn’t particularly agree' with his climbing. 

Speaking from his home in Derby, his grandfather Clifford Stevenson, 70, told the Daily Mail: 'We all tried to talk him out of it. We were always trying to talk him out of doing things but that was the way he was. 

'He loved doing it, always went out there believing he'd be alright. He did what he did for his own pleasure. He did not get any money for it, he was an adventurer.' 

They pleaded with him to call off the risky climb, but he ignored them and travelled to Spain.

The inquest in writing told how Lewis and a friend scaled the central mast of the bridge in the early hours of the morning using the elevator rail
Situated over the River Tagus, local media sources say the bridge has for several years attracted climbers and social media influencers who ignore the ban to scale (not pictured)
His grandfather Clifford Stevenson, 70, told the Daily Mail: 'We all tried to talk him out of it. We were always trying to talk him out of doing things but that was the way he was'

Mrs Stevenson added: 'Lewis was my boy, my world and my biggest achievement. He continually made me so proud, he was happy and ambitious in life.

'We as a whole family supported his adventures around the world, which included amazing places he got to visit like Easter Island and Machu Picchu, but unfortunately those adventures also included climbing great heights which we didn’t particularly agree with but understood this was what he loved to do.

'He knew his limits and never did anything beyond them. He was a keen photographer and he did this all for passion, not as an influencer.

'There will forever be a hole in our hearts and life will not be the same again.'

It was also expected that investigators would look into the possibility bad weather played a part in what happened as it is thought to have rained heavily in Talavera de la Reina before the tragedy, making everything more slippery than it normally would have been.