A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy choked to death on a Disney toy in a tragic accident, an inquest heard.

Joseph Lightowler swallowed the plastic Aladdin doll arm, which blocked his airways. He died the same day despite desperate efforts by his family and medical staff to revive him.

A Bradford inquest heard Joseph, of Otley Road, Bingley, died from a brain injury due to cardiac arrest after swallowing the toy.

Assistant Coroner Oliver Longstaff said the effect of swallowing the toy had been immediate and catastrophic and Joseph's death had been inevitable from the outset.

Mr Longstaff said the loss and distress of Joseph's family was at the forefront of everyone's mind.

He said: "It is every parent's worst nightmare, and the feeling that something might have been done differently to prevent this dreadful thing happening will probably never go away."

But he said nothing could have been done differently.

The Bradford inquest was told today that Joseph's mother, Sonya Toner, called at a friend's house, on Saturday, December 13 last year, to drop off iPads to upload for Christmas.

Joseph's father, John Lightowler, and their three children were outside, when Joseph swallowed something. His father slapped him on the back to try and dislodge it, but could not and the boy was unconscious. His mother and other people also tried to revive him, including giving mouth to mouth resuscitation.

A friend tried to contact the emergency services but when they had trouble getting through, it was decided Mr Lightowler would drive Joseph from the scene, at East Chevin Road, near Otley, to Wharfedale Hospital in the town.

Attempts were still being made to revive Joseph and an ambulance was summoned to the hospital.

The inquest heard that Wharfedale Hospital had a minor injuries unit, but no accident and emergency department. Clinical support workers and a duty GP continued to attempt to resuscitate Joseph until the ambulance arrived.

But Dr Hannah Watson said the boy was not breathing, had no pulse and was unresponsive. Joseph was getting no air because of the severity of the obstruction. She said the efforts to revive him were futile, but "we wanted to try anything."

Paramedic Peter Leighton told the inquest he and a colleague were called to East Chevin Road from Bradford Royal Infirmary. Shortly after responding, they were stood down from the emergency but about a minute later they were directed to Wharfedale Hospital, arriving 14 minutes later.

Joseph was given oxygen in the ambulance on the way to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), which had been put on alert. Medical staff at the infirmary continued trying to revive him, including giving him five doses of adrenalin, but his death was confirmed that afternoon.

Paediatric registrar Dr Grace Ehidiamhen said Joseph's condition never improved and from his arrival at LGI the outcome was inevitable.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) director Ben Holdaway, who reviewed a report following an internal inquiry after Joseph's death, said the demand for services was high at the time and the response time was outside the standard, but the coroner said that did not mean the outcome would have been different.

Mr Holdaway said Joseph's family had made the right decision in taking him to hospital themselves.

He said YAS was undertaking a review of workforce and vehicle requirements.

Mr Longstaff said the sequence of events made no difference to the outcome.

He added: "The case can only be described as an absolute tragedy."

The inquest was told the obstruction was located with a tube and camera at LGI. It was removed and found to be the arm of the plastic toy.

In a statement to the inquest, Anna Holford, of the Walt Disney company, said it believed the toy may have formed part of a Jasmine handbag play set, manufactured in the UK on two occasions. It most closely resembled the 2006 Aladdin play set. Joseph's mother believed she had purchased the toy second-hand a year before.

The toy had been subjected to substantial wear and tear and had no limbs attached to the torso. The toys had passed all safety testing requirements before being imported.

Mr Longstaff said it could not have been predicted that Joseph would put the arm of the toy in his mouth and there was nothing in the design of the toy that had caused the events to take place.