Corsham man's tribute to wife killed in freak explosion (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Corsham man's tribute to wife killed in freak explosion

1:49pm Tuesday 14th February 2012 in News By Mike Wilkinson, Senior Reporter

Kieran and Erica Marshall

A Corsham man has paid tribute to his newlywed wife who was killed in a freak explosion caused by a horse.

Expert vet Erica Marshall was killed when a horse she was monitoring in an oxygen chamber in the next room hit a metal wall with its horseshoe, creating sparks which ignited the pressurised oxygen.

A huge blast hurled debris 1,200ft, was heard by people 30 miles away and killed Mrs Marshall and the horse instantly.

Mrs Marshall, who was from New Jersey, had only married her Corsham husband Kieran last November. He said: “Erica was such a kind and generous woman. She only cared about other people. She was selfless."

The oxygen chamber was used to speed up the recovery of injured horses.

The couple met while Mrs Marshall, 28, was studying equine science at Hartpury College near Gloucester.

They then moved to Florida in 2010 after Erica was offered a job at the Kentucky Equine Sports and Rehabilitation Centre.

An investigation into the tragedy, which also killed the horse and left another worker hospitalised, has begun.