Former Manchester City Football Club doctor fell 300ft to his death when he and his wife visited a mountain where he had proposed to her 27 years ago.
An inquest heard that 54-year-old Dr Jamie Butler popped the question to his wife Margaret on Striding Edge in the Lake District in 1994.
The couple, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, had returned to the Lake last November to follow the same path and rekindle the moment. The mountain was said to have held a special place in the couple’s hearts, the hearing in Cockermouth was told.
The couple had taken on the walk in the afternoon. Margaret said when they reached Striding Edge, she was too tired and Dr Butler walked along it on his own to find the exact spot where he asked her to marry him.
The inquest was told that the doctor fell from the mountain in poor visibility after a mist came down.
In a statement, Mrs Butler described seeing her husband walk off into mist. After he was gone for a while, she shouted after him but got no response and called the police. Mountain rescuers found her husband below the ridge dead from multiple injuries.
Dr Butler became a medic for Manchester City Football Club in 2007 and was promoted to senior medical officer in 2009 and was later part of the physio team at Premiership rugby union team Sale Sharks.
His former colleague, Doug Jones told MailOnline:
“He was a really fantastic guy who didn’t have a bad word to say about anyone.
“He was very loved by the staff and players at both Sale & Man City….you just couldn’t not warm to him.”
Coroner Kirsty Gomersal concluded the death was an accident.
Speaking on her husband’s death, Mrs Butler said;
“Jamie was a loving husband with two twin boys who he adored.
“He will be forever missed. He died doing what he loved.”
