Boxer collapsed with brain bleed after family asked him take a break (2024)

A devastated father has recalled how his 18-year-old son died from bleeding near his brain after collapsing at a suburban boxing gym.

George Diamond, an apprentice carpenter, was taken to hospital after a sparring session at Sting Gym in Cranbourne, in Melbourne's south-east, in February 2019.

The teenager could not be saved and he died at The Alfred hospital.

An autopsy found Mr Diamond's death was caused by an 'acute subdural haemorrhage, operated in a setting of martial arts activity', the Coroners Court in Melbourne was told on Tuesday.

'There was also evidence of an older subdural haemorrhage,' counsel assisting Gideon Boas said.

George had just been getting back into boxing after taking a break following that firstconcussion four months earlier when he died.

George's dad Vic Diamond cried on the witness stand as he recalled a heartbreaking conversation with his son on the way home from hospital when he was first injured.

'I said to him, 'Georgie, maybe you should give boxing a miss for a little while',' he said.

'He said to me 'Dad, the gym owners had said I'm all good, they let me drive home, two GPs have said I'm all good, a doctor at the hospital has said to me I don't even have to do a scan, we have to put trust in what they're saying because they're professionals'.

'That's a regret I have,' Mr Diamond said.

The first injury occurred as George was sparring and his opponent hit him in the groin and repeatedly in the head on October 25, 2018.

Mr Diamond recalled his son returning home from the gym that night and not being himself.

'He told me, 'I got hurt at boxing, the gym checked me out, gave me a Gatorade and he let me drive home 20 minutes afterwards',' he told the court.

'My question is, why didn't they call an ambulance? There's three medical centres a kilometre radius of the gym, why didn't they take him to one of those medical centres?'

The following day, George went to work but his boss sent him home because he was vomiting, which was when his father decided to take his him to a doctor.

He told the GP he was vomiting, dizzy, had headaches and back pain, and she sent him away but said to bring him back if it continued.

His condition did not improve so they returned to see a different doctor, and were again told to give it a few days before bringing him back, the father said.

No MRI or CT scans were ordered, but the teenager was sent to undergo blood tests.

His symptoms continued, causing the father and son to go to Frankston Hospital on November 5 where he was diagnosed with concussion.

Mr Diamond asked the clinician to order an MRI or CT scan for his son, but the emergency physician said he did not need the scan.

'I asked (him) twice to do a CT scan, he said I was being over protective and it was unnecessary,' he said.

The doctor said radiation from the scan would not be good for the 18-year-old, Mr Diamond said.

The doctor gave the teenager advice about his head injury and returning to boxing, including written information about concussion.

After the incident, the gym suspended the teenager on medical grounds, but after he died, family members accessed his phone and sent material to the court they claim showed he had been attending the gym while on suspension.

Former Sting Gym co-owner John Paule said the gym dropped the suspension on January 11, 2019 after a phone call with the teenager.

That was two weeks before a doctor gave George the all-clear to return to sparring.

Roisin Annesley, KC, for the gym, asked Mr Diamond if he agreed the gym staff cared about his son.

'If someone cares for someone, they don't put their life at risk,' he said. 'If you care about him, you don't put him back in the ring.

'If I loved and cared for someone, I would not put their life at risk. Come on.'

The inquest before State Coroner John Cain continues.