Training death corporal "would not want army blamed"
A former sergeant major whose son died during an Army fitness test on the hottest day of the year has said that his son would not have wanted his colleagues to feel any blame.
A former sergeant major whose son died during an Army fitness test on the hottest day of the year has said that his son would not have wanted his colleagues to feel any blame.
Corporal Josh Hoole, 26, of The Rifles died last week in Brecon in Wales, after collapsing whilst on pre-course training for the Platoon Sergeants' Battle Course - which is described as “both mentally and physically demanding”.
Some MPs had linked his death with the dangers of training in the high temperatures, following the death of three soldiers in 2013 during an SAS training exercise in the same area, but his father - Phillip Hoole - said it could have been down to an underlying heart condition.
Mr Hoole, 54, an Iraq veteran, told the North West Evening Mail: “Josh wouldn't have wanted the soldiers that were with him, or the medics, to feel any personal blame. He was doing his job and he knew the risks.”
Corporal Hoole, from Ecclefechan near Lockerbie in Scotland - but who was stationed at Catterick in North Yorkshire, died on July 19.
He had been due to marry his fiancee Rachael McKie next year and was to be best man at his brother Tyrone's wedding in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Mr Hoole, from Carlisle, added: “The way the MPs are talking, if there were more checks and balances placed on the Army and they were wrapped in cotton wool the MPs would ultimately be responsible for a lack of duty of care.”
“Josh wouldn't have been happy with the way that people have had a knee-jerk reaction straight away simply because it was the hottest day of the year. People have started to point the finger at the army,” he continued.
Mr Hoole said that Corporal Hoole had been around 200m from the finish when he collapsed.
He said that it had been a normal run “with no extra beastings” and had been done in the confines laid down by the Army.
A cause of death is yet to be established, but Mr Hoole said he suspected an arrhythmia or aneurysm in the heart.
He described his son - whose brother, Tyrone, is also a soldier in The Rifles - as “caring young man” who “always pushed himself 100%”.
Corporal Hoole's funeral will take place on Thursday in Ecclefechan, before a private service in Dumfries.
A police investigation into his death is continuing.
Dyfed Powys Police said a post-mortem examination has been completed, but the results are not expected until late September.