Father-of-three killed in Gobi desert motorbike accident

Andrew Grennan suffered a ruptured spleen in the accident in June but it took tour guides nine hours to reach the nearest hospital because of the remoteness of the location.

The gas engineer, from Walsall, who suffered from an arthritic condition which meant he would eventually become wheelchair-bound, had wanted to enjoy life as much as he could while he was still able, the inquest heard.

But his long-term illness had no bearing on his death, a post mortem showed.

A tour medic suspected he had internal bleeding which meant the support vehicle which picked him up could only travel at an average of 15mph due to the rocky terrain.

On arrival at hospital a CT scan revealed he had multiple rib fractures and a ruptured spleen. The 43-year-old was rushed into surgery to stem the bleeding where doctors found 6pts of blood had collected in his abdomen.

Mr Grennan, of The Glades, Aldridge, failed to regain consciousness and was pronounced dead the following morning.

Birmingham Coroner's Court heard yesterday that the £5,000-a-head motorcycle tour was organised by Nick Sanders Expeditions.

He and partner, Dr Caroline Taylor, a qualified GP, ran the trips and travelled with their clients. The tragedy happened on June 7, about halfway through the eight-week tour.

Fellow motorcyclist Stephen James said Andy had passed him shortly after 7am travelling 'really slowly', at around 30mph, because of the pitted terrain as they both tried to 'get a feel for the road.' They were headed for Atlay, about 100 miles away.

He said: "Andy was a very competent rider, particularly on off-road."

But less than 30 seconds later he saw his Yamaha strike a pothole and Andy hit the ground heavily. Mr James told a following rider to stay with him while he made the three-mile journey back to the campsite to alert the others.

Dr Taylor rushed to the scene and assessed his injuries to be serious. The party started off in the direction of Atlay, stopping at a village settlement on the way looking for medical facilities. They booked into a basic hotel, described as more like a shack, but moved on after two hours when no help could be found.

Mr Sanders, a record-breaking motorcyclist and author, told the inquest he had taken 1,800 clients on motorcycle trips across the globe since starting the business in 1999 but had never been to Mongolia before.

He said they did not bring translators with them or use local tour guides and instead relied on maps and roadbooks.

But he added that Mr Grennan and the 15 other motorcyclists on the trip were fully aware of the risks they were taking.

"I think we are the most extreme motorcycle tour company in the world - that's why people sign up with us.

"We were the best ambulance Andy could have had, with a qualified doctor looking after him at all times."

The inquest heard he was planning a similar trip to Mongolia in 2016 but was not planning to do anything differently.

Assistant Birmingham coroner Elizabeth Bussey-Jones recorded a narrative verdict and said that she hoped that the company would focus on what had happened and consider what could have been done better and how best to protect the people travelling with them.

She concluded that Mr Grennan had died as a result of a road collision, adding it was not part of the coroner's task to apportion blame.

Mr Grennan's devastated widow Claire, aged 40, who is suing the tour company, said the inquest had raised more questions than it had answered.

She said: "Andrew absolutely loved his motorbike and he was really looking forward to this trip to Mongolia. He was very much a family man, very hard working and never complained about anything.

"Our family has been left heartbroken by losing Andrew in such tragic circumstances – as the extent of his injuries were horrific and we are desperate to find out why there was no sense of urgency to get him to hospital for potentially lifesaving treatment. We don't understand why the tour operators stopped at the village en route or why they didn't have a satellite phone with them."