British free-climber ‘fell to death from 630ft bridge filming social media video’

A British influencer who plunged from a 630ft-tall bridge close to Madrid died from head injuries, an inquest has revealed.

Lewis Stevenson is believed to have been creating content for social media while attempting to scale Castilla-La Mancha – the tallest bridge in Spain.

The 26-year-old had embarked on the 90-minute journey, southwest of the Spanish capital, to get up the constructionabove the Tagus River.

He was famous online for documenting his adventures, during which he climbed structures without safety equipment.

Assistant coroner Sabyta Kaushal today opened the inquest into his death at Derby Coroner’s Court and adjourned the hearing for further inquiries.

Kaushal told his mother, Keilia, who attended the hearing that the cause of her son’s death has been recorded as ‘blunt force head injuries’ after an ‘uncontrolled descent from height’.

She had said: ‘I am opening the inquest into the death of Lewis Stevenson. He died on October 13 at the Castilla-La Mancha bridge in Spain.

‘The inquest will be adjourned for further investigations to be concluded.

‘When it is concluded then the matter will be listed for a final hearing.’

Macarena Munoz, Madrid’s councillor for citizen security, said the graphics and print designer climbed the bridge to ‘create social media content.’

She described the fall as an ‘unfortunate and sad outcome’, but added that climbing the bridge ‘is totally prohibited and which we have reiterated on many occasions cannot be done under any circumstances’.

After his death in October his mother paid tribute in which she insisted that her son was ‘not a social media influencer’, but a ‘thrill-seeker’.

She said: ‘Lewis was my boy, my world and my biggest achievement. He continually made me so proud, he was happy and ambitious in life.

‘We as a whole family supported his adventures around the world, which included amazing places he got to visit like Easter island and Machu Picchu, but unfortunately those adventures also included climbing great heights which we didn’t particularly agree with but understood this was what he loved to do.

‘He knew his limits and never did anything beyond them. He was a keen photographer and he did this all for passion, not as an influencer.’

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