Boxer Mike Towell '˜begged' for scan before fight that led to his death

Scottish boxer Mike Towell 'begged' for a head scan while in agony after a sparring session in the weeks before his death, a fatal accident inquiry heard.

Mike Towell. Picture: SNS

Mr Towell, from Dundee, died of a bleed on the brain the day after he lost a bout in the fifth round to Welsh fighter Dale Evans on 29 September 2016.

He was given medical treatment in the ring at Glasgow’s St Andrews Sporting Club before being taken to hospital but died 24 hours later.

His mother Tracey told the inquiry into his death that he had to stop during a training session at his gym in Stirling and was taken to accident and emergency at Ninewells Hospital. She said: “He said he was feeling fine in the morning, he was feeling quite good, he went away sparring and he was only able to do three rounds, he had to come out the ring, he couldn’t do any more. He just said he was in absolute agony, he was in bits.”

Procurator fiscal depute Eileen Beadsworth asked: “What do you mean by that?”

Mrs Towell said: “He actually physically had tears in his eyes, the pain was that bad. He was actually physically sitting on the ground, he had his jumper round his head, he was in agony.”

The inquiry heard a triage nurse saw he was in “severe distress” and took him in quicker.

His mother said Mr Towell told the nurse: “You have to help me, you will need to give me a scan, there’s something really bad going on, there’s something really going wrong.”

Mrs Towell said to get a scan he would need to go to his doctor and be referred. She added: “He was begging them.”

She told the inquiry: “He said it was ‘wooshing’, he said he could feel the inside of his head actually moving.”

The court heard he saw a doctor in the hospital that evening who said it was a migraine and pressure because of his upcoming big fight.

Mrs Beadsworth said the doctor noted he had been having headaches for a week and a half before this. Mrs Towell said he had been suffering headaches in the weeks earlier.

She said: “He was saying this was something different, he was actually saying that to them, this is not a headache this is something really bad going on here.”

Asked why he fought on 29 September, his mother said she felt he “didn’t want to let people down”.

The inquiry continues.