Roger Stotesbury, from Buckingham near Oxford, died while on the last leg of a ‘middle-aged gap year’ trip with his wife

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A British man has died after falling from the second floor of an Indian temple.

Roger Stotesbury was on the final leg of a “middle-aged gap year” trip with his wife when he fell about 30ft (nine metres) on Friday.

Local reports said Stotesbury, from Buckingham near Oxford, was trying to take a selfie at a temple in Orchha, about 160 miles south of the Taj Mahal.

However, this has been disputed by his family, who said he had just finished taking some shots of the scenery and had put his iPad down on a ledge before the incident happened.

The Times of India said he was “standing almost on the edge of a wall on the second floor of the temple” when he fell.

The documentary filmmaker and father of two was in the last few weeks of his travels around the world with his wife, Hilary.

A family spokeswoman said: “He was the nicest man on the planet and they were an incredibly happy and devoted couple. It’s just awful.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing assistance to the family of a British man following his tragic death in India on 13 October. Our thoughts are with the family at this sad time.”

Writing on their blog, Our Middle Aged Gap Year, the couple said they had decided to embark on the round-the-world trip because “you only live once”.

Introducing themselves, they wrote: “We are Hilary and Roger, a married couple from England/Scotland who are in their mid fifties. Hilary’s motto is ‘just do it’ whilst Roger’s is ‘to die young as late as possible’.

Roger Stotesbury (@RogerStotesbury) At Venice Beach in Los Angeles. This round-the-world trip is one of the best things I've ever done pic.twitter.com/gR7vKWXXq2

“We took the view that on your deathbed you never wish you’d spent more time in the office,” the post continues. “We’ve seen our two kids off into the wider world and we have no more caring responsibilities for our parents. So we thought now is the time to take a gap year and travel whilst we still have the health and energy. After all you only live once.

“Rather than drift into comfortable retirement we wanted to do something different.”

The couple started with a two-month tour of Italy before taking in South and North America, Australia and several Asian countries. India was intended to be their final stop, according to the blog.

The couple posted pictures of their visit to the Taj Mahal on their website a day before the tragedy. On the 11 October, they posted a blog about the final country of their trip.

It read: “India is the stuff of dreams, colour, smells, extremes, contradictions and sacred cows. We are looking forward to our own individual experience. What will the next three weeks hold for us?”



