Dockwalk received word that Engineer Jacob Nicol has passed away. In May 2015, Jacob was the third assistant engineer on board 82-meter M/Y Kibo when he suffered a hypoxic brain injury after falling overboard in Mallorca while cleaning the vessel’s hull. He was 22 years old at the time.
While Jacob received a battery of tests and therapies that showed he was conscious and aware of his surroundings, but he was ultimately unable to recover.
“A UK coroner’s report has triggered an inquest into the death of Jacob,” says Jenade Moon, Jacob’s sister. “The initial report claimed that pneumonia due to lack of mobility as a result of the hypoxic brain injury led to his early passing. We are waiting for an official report regarding this to be released.”
Moon says the Spanish courts closed the case due to missing evidence and claimed that the vessel’s CCTV footage was never available; however, Moon believes otherwise. “We have still not seen the last movements of our loved one. The CCTV footage holds the answers to what happened back on May 3, 2015, and [it] would bring us some closure,” she says. “I hope one day we will be able to finally watch it and move forward. Right now we are trying to stay calm and make sure that Jacob has a good send off with those who knew and loved him. What’s happened to Jacob will echo throughout the yachting industry for years to come, and I really do hope things change for more lives will be stolen.”
Original story: Engineer in Coma After Fall from Yacht