A FATHER OF one drowned after turning into “snagged” on an automobile that had been submerged in the river Shannon, gardaí told an inquest into the man’s death the day before this.
Christopher ‘Kippy’ Leo, elderly forty-four, from Cliona Park, Moyross, had long gone for a swim at Brown’s Quay, Limerick, while he was given stuck on the automobile, Limerick Coroner’s Court heard.
“It is in an area recognized for joyriding. The vehicle may be pushed in or pushed in,” Garda Alan Dowling, Mayorstone Park garda station, informed the inquest.
Eric Woodland from Dalglish Park, Moyross, advised the hearing he and Christopher Leo, who were buddies, had long gone for a walk on 30 June 2018 and stopped for relaxation near the riverbank.
“We had been sitting down playing the sun. It turned into a warm roasting day. Ann Harvey and her daughters have been paddling in the river and Christopher said to me he became going to ‘display-off’ for the children,” Woodland advised gardai.
“He went in, and he went down…abruptly. He turned into long gone below for approximately a minute and a 1/2. I got worried. I asked Ann to ring the rescue crowd.”
Woodland stated Christopher Leo “had one or drinks that day. However, he wasn’t under the influence of alcohol”.
Limerick City and County Fire and Rescue Service were dispatched to the scene and fast placed the person’s body underwater.
“The Fire Service rescue [boat] placed him snagged underwater in a car,” Garda Dowling said.
Ann Harvey from Cosgrave Park, Moyross, stated in a deposition, study out using Garda Inspector Dermot O’Connor of Henry Street Garda Station, that Leo turned into, to begin with “shooting up and down” in the water.
She said she notion he changed into “simplest messing” when he didn’t resurface. She rang the emergency services and efforts to resuscitate Christopher Leo failed.
John Leo instructed the inquest he recognized his brother’s frame later at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
Dr. Gabor Laskai, a pathologist at UHL, stated dying turned into because of “asphyxiation because of drowning.” He stated toxicology tests observed, “low degrees” of Xanax and alcohol in Christopher Leo’s machine.
He mentioned the publish mortem exam found a “concurrent use of alcohol, an antidepressant; anti-epileptic; antihistamines medicines” which combined could have ended in “a multiplied threat of accident” as well as a likely “lack of coordination.”
Limerick Coroner, Dr. John McNamara remarked: “It strikes me as very uncommon there has been a car in (the river). However, that’s what seems to have snagged Christopher below the water.”
Recording a verdict of “misadventure,” Dr. McNamara cited blended low degrees of alcohol and drugs may additionally have affected Mr. Leo’s “coordination and capacity to react.”
