'Our son's kickboxing death must lead to change'

Moments before 15-year-old Alex Eastwood headed down to the ring to compete in a charity kickboxing match, his father gave him a kiss and told him he loved him.

Stephen Eastwood, 40, never imagined this would be the last conversation he had with his son.

The champion kickboxer collapsed after the third and final bout of the match and died three days later in hospital.

After it came to light that he had been competing in an unsanctioned fight, his family launched a campaign for change in his memory.

During his inquest at Bolton Coroner's Court, Michael Pemberton, assistant coroner for Manchester West, concluded Alex died through misadventure.

He said neither Alex, nor his parents, appreciated the dangers of the "chaotic and somewhat disted" approach to children involved in combat sports.

He described the planning and lack of risk assessment before the fatal bout as "sub-optimal".

Alex fell in love with kickboxing after he started training at Hurricane Combat and Fitness in Liverpool at the age of nine and had a "meteoric" rise in the sport, his inquest heard.

The teenager, from Fazakerley, Liverpool, who had just finished his GCSEs, had agreed to take part in the charity fundraiser fight at TKMA Gym in Platt Bridge, Wigan, on 29 June 2024 .

The bout was to be the "main event", but it was an unsanctioned match, the inquest heard.

Tragedy struck when Alex collapsed after the third and final two-minute round of the "light " kickboxing match against a 17-year-old opponent.

Mr Eastwood told the inquest he "shouted that his son's head guard had come loose" in the second round, which was rectified.

He said he noticed his son's movements had become "slower" and he was "holding the rope" in the third round.

Speaking to BBC North West Tonight, Mr Eastwood said: "I looked at Nikita [Alex's step-mother] and across the room and shook my head as if to say 'what have we just witnessed":[]}