A family has paid tribute to their 24-year-old son, who died following a car accident in north Norfolk.

Dylan Baty, of Meadowsweet Road in Swaffham, was driving to Wells to meet with friends to go crabbing when his car crashed into a wall at Burnham Overy, on the evening of August 24 last year.

Mr Baty died on August 26 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn of a pulmonary embolism, but an inquest into his death was not held until September 23 this year.

The coroner’s conclusion was that “Mr Baty died from a pulmonary embolism which had not been diagnosed”, and the hospital said afterwards that their care fell short.

In a statement, Dylan’s family said he had a “heart of gold” and was a “big-hearted lad who will always be deeply missed by many”.

The family said: “The amount of people who wrote messages on his page, and who went along to his funeral was unbelievable. It was nice to know how much he was loved by everybody. “Dylan was a big figure in everybody’s life who always had a smile on his face. He loved all his family and anything to do with his cars.”

Dylan worked as a sales clerk at an insurance firm, and his interests included fishing, travelling, banger racing and going to modified car meets with his mates.

The family also said he loved going to Old Hunstanton to watch the sunset.

“He was a fun-loving guy who would do anything for anybody,” the family statement said.

“He always put everybody else first.”

At the inquest at Norfolk Coroner’s Court, senior coroner Jacqueline Lake found Dylan was taken to hospital with an injury to his foot and a fracture to his left leg following the crash, and an operation to repair the fracture was delayed due to “completing cases”.

The inquest record read: “Overnight on August 25/26, Mr Baty’s condition worsened.

“A written risk assessment for a venous thromboembolism was not carried out. On August 26 2019 Mr Baty was prepared for the procedure to fix the fracture to his leg. Sadly his condition suddenly deteriorated and Mr Baty died.”

Dr Frankie Swords, the hospital’s medical director, said: “On behalf of the trust, I extend my condolences to Mr Baty’s family and loved ones.

“We strive to give all of our patients the highest quality care – however, on this occasion it is clear that our care fell short of what we would expect in some aspects, for which we apologise.

“We have learnt from this sad case and have since made a number of changes, including improving our documentation, to ensure we do all we can to prevent a recurrence in future.”